Our Love Could Never Be- A Clato Fanfiction
by ThehungergamesClatoforever
Summary: The story of Cato and Clove... When Cato from District 2 meets Clove, he hates her guts. But when they are forced to be training partners, things change. Cato finds himself falling for Clove; something he never thought he'd do. However, Clove is called in for the Hunger Games, and Cato volunteers in his shock. Can he get the girl he loves out alive?
1. Chapter 1

I watch as the small girl with the dark hair throws knives at all the nearby dummies. I cross my arms and nudge Griffin. "You see that girl over there?" He nods. "That's Clove. She started just last week. Have you seen the way she throws knives about like a headless chicken?" I shake my head in disgust. "Pathetic," replies Griffin. "We don't learn weaponry until next year. For now its just survival skills." I groan at just the mention of it. Survival skills is the worst subject ever. We don't drop the subject, it's the one we have to take right through to the end of our time at the academy- well, that and weaponry. We can choose the rest. "Maybe we should just volunteer so we can win the Hunger Games and leave this stupid school," I sigh. Griffin stares at me in horror. "What- are you nuts Cato? We're only in our second year here! We'll die!"

"Maybe not," I say with a shrug of my shoulders. "We're careers, aren't we? And there would most likely be some older careers as well to take care of us. You know, I'm liking the sound of this! I'm going to volunteer this year!" Griffin suddenly kicks me hard on the leg. "CATO, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU," he yells. People start staring at us, so he drops his voice. "You can't. You'll die. You have people who love you Cato, and you'll be dis-respecting our district by going in there, you know that right?" I nod. I know if I go in there, I won't come out alive, which means District 2 is even less likely to have a winner. I sigh. Suddenly, a noise behind me turns my sigh to a yelp. I turn round to find a short, dark haired girl laughing at me. "What was that all about Cato?" I narrow my eyes at the girl in anger. My blood is boiling from her mocking, laughing voice. The way she spat out the sentence and really emphasised my name. "Nothing you need to worry about, Clove," I hiss, putting the same effect on her name. She laughs. "Oh Cato, I know anyway. You know, I think the whole hall does too. If you want your conversations to be private, maybe you shouldn't yell them across the hall, Cato. Anyway, good luck in the games, Mister. I'm volunteering." Clove skips off with a quick wink and a swish of her hair. I lunge forward at her out of my anger, but Griffin pulls me back. "LET ME AT HER! I'M GONNA KILL THAT KID!" I yell at Griffin as loud as I can, but he doesn't let go. I look back to find his face burning red in embarrasment. "Cato, please stop." I scream all the insults I know at him, at Clove, at everyone in the room. Griffin drags me away, while I'm still kicking and screaming. "Cato, come on, just shut up. Stop being a jerk, you know your embarrasing me," Griffin says through clenched teeth. I struggle for a little while longer, before finnaly bite his arm, causing him to yank his arm back, setting me free. I don't waste a second. I sprint like lightning after Clove, with both my hands clenched into fists. When I get there, she's just about to send one of her knives flying into a dummy, but she hears me coming and turns round in shock at the last second. She flings the knife into my shoulder by accident, because I see the glint of silver soaring towards me. It hits me like a bullet, and I plummet to the floor, weeping and clutching my shoulder. I see Griffin in the distance moving his head, and I assume he's shaking it. Clove stands in shock as she clumsily steps back into one of the dummies. The last thing I see is two men in white suits coming and leaning over me.


	2. Chapter 2

When I wake up, I find myself in the nurses office, with a bloody bandage on my shoulder. There are a few tubes attatched to me, to my hand, and a small machine makes a continuous beeping noise. Giving a groan as I sit up, I rip the tubes from my hand. To my suprise, the beeping suddenly gets harsher, louder and faster. I panic a little, because I have to admit it's pretty scary. "Hi? Anyone? The machine, sounds like something is wrong. I need the nurse or something!" I bang hard on the door, trying to summon somebody. For some strange reason, I don't really want to leave the room. After what seems like a lifetime of knocking, the nurse finnally comes back, and makes a tutting noise at me. "Oh well Cato, this won't do," she sighs as she examines the hand the tubes were in. "You know, you'd think you would maybe realise that the machine was beeping to tell you that taking out the tubes was wrong. They were there for a reason, boy!" I know she's not really angry at me; it's her thing. She gets 'angry' at all her patients. Griffin told be its because of showing how injuries in the arena are no joke or something (I have absaloutely no idea what that has to do with anything!) After that, she doesn't really do much else. She messes with my hand and injects some kind of medicine, changes the bandages on my shoulder and gives me a 15 minute lecture on how I must not practice weaponry for a week, (she says that it should be easy because we don't even study it. Like that's going to stop anyone.) how I must not run, how I must eat healthy, ya da ya da ya. It's basically saying 'Be careful.' She lets me go afterwards, and what do you know, the first person I bump into is Griffin. "Man, that was something out there. Every girl is interested in you and wants to know if your okay! Glitzy even cried," he sneers. I make a small gagging noise as I point to my throat. "Glitzy? You have got to be joking! The one who always talks in the giggly voice? Eww, that's disgusting." I start to fidget a bit. "Uh, what about Clove? How's she?" Griffin raises his eyebrows a little. "Well, she was going to be suspended, but they decided to..." Griffins voice starts to trail off a little. "Decided to what?" I ask. "They awarded her," he whispers. My mouth drops open in shock. "For such a great ability with the knife. Then, just like you, every one was super interested in her. Oh and, uh, Knight has asked her to be his training partner next year." I laugh a little and scoff at him. "He won't keep a promise like that. I mean, this is Knight we're talking about. Anyway, what are we going to do about next year?" Griffin shrugs slightly. We both know it's a big decision; next year we get to choose whether we go for the set classes schedule, or the self training. The set classes schedule pretty much speaks for itself, but the self training is a little more confusing. You get to choose a training partner, and then you have to train yourselves. Most of the great victors all took self training. You can concenrate on your weaknesses, and simply practice your strengths. However, all of the lazy tributes mostly choose self training, and don't do anything until it's time for the final exams; everyone has to take the final exams. It's how they determine whether the self training or set class schedule is better. It differs every year, considering whether the academy gets lazy students or determined students. Me and Griffin definately want to do self training, and we think we will choose each other as partners, but I guess we're no totally sure yet. If I'm totally honest, I'm not a very social kind of person. I have got to be the most popular boy in the entire year. All the kids in the older years tell me I've got the looks, the talent, the muscles... It just goes on and on. Griffin has bagged a lot of popularity just from hanging out with me, but he's not really the popular sort of guy. He's a great friend and all, but the biggest reason I like him, is because he likes me for me, and not because everybody else is dying to be my best friend. Well, I guess Griffin is technically my best friend, my only friend in fact. I suddenly look at him and really appreciate everything he's done for me. He knows I have the anger problems, and he knows I can be incredibly embarassing sometimes, but despite all that he is the only person who can calm me down when I get mad. And I love him for it. I immedialy wrap my arms around him, and start crying on his shoulder. I can almost feel him rolling his eyes at me, but I don't care. "Cato, come on. Get off, people are watching." I can hear slight annoyance in his voice, but he's laughing, and I am too. "Just shh," I giggle. "Shh and let the fiery waves of my love consume you so," I laugh. That's the final straw for him, and he pushes me away, still laughing. I'm laughing too, and I realize that he was able to comfort me without even saying anything soothing, more so something I would usually find offensive. In fact, I'm still choking with laughter when Griffin has left the corridor.


	3. Chapter 3

"Everyday up to now, you have learnt how to keep yourselves alive in the arena. Today, we are going to teach you how you can make sure you are the only one who stays alive; you're going to learn weaponry. Swords, knives, spears, bows and everything else. You will learn the basics of using each one. After you roughly know how, you will be given the option of self training, or the set class schedule, more commonly refered to as the SCS. If you choose the SCS, you will be given the oppurtunity to learn more subjects and new things. With self training, you will get to perfect your skills, and master a certain one. But choose wisely, because once you have decided you may not change! Those are the rules. I will now hand you over to Coach Pete, who will be teaching you weaponry for the next 3 weeks. There will be no Survival Skills. Good day." The instant amount of chatter and cheering that this simple speech creates is incredible. We are finally rid of that awful subject!

"ENOUGH," echoes a booming voice. The chatter dies down, and everyone in the hall starts looking around to see where it came from. We look at a tall, bald man in a tight training suit. "Today, we are going to start weaponry lessons. It's simple. You do what I say, when I say it. No execptions. Now, lets get started. Anyone who thinks they have a talent with knives, over here. Bows, over there, Swords in the back and Spears over here with me. Go!" The effect this has on everyone is immediate. All the kids are running around the hall, trying to find their station and figure out what their talent is. I spot Griffin from across the hall, and I watch as he gives me a small wave and a smile. After that he quietly tries to squeeze his way in with the people at the spear station. He's gone after a few seconds because Pete starts talking to them. Eventually, I turn round to get to the sword station. We end up waiting for 30 minutes for Pete to come to us. When he does in the end, he doesn't even do much. He lines us up, gives us each one sword and gets us to cut the heads off 5 dummies. Some people are a bit better and try to do it in a creative way. Others... Just slowly saw off each head. When it comes to me, I get the kid behind me to give me his sword too. Pete raises his eyebrow but seems interested. With no effort, I twirl each sword in my hands, and spin around as I quickly slice each dummies head off. I throw one sword down, and toss the other back to the boy. Pete simply nods, excusing me from the hall. Giving a small bow, I saunter out of the hall as I grin. I am extremely satisfied with myself.


	4. Chapter 4

I blink rapidly as I yawn and try to keep my eyes open in the hall. The past three weeks have been exhausting; my arms hurt from throwing spears, and my head hurts horribly. We have to wait for Pete to come back from the office before we can choose our self training partners; yes, me and Griffin decided to take the self training. Me and Griffin agreed last week that we were going to be partners. He won't drop out on me, he's just not that sort of person. I turn to see where Griffin is and, to my suprise, I find him laughing with Glitzy and Katie. He's giggling in a shy way while they smile phony smiles and laugh like idiots. When we make eye contact I mouth the word 'what?' and he gives a wave of dismissal. He says goodbye to Glitzy and Katie, and skips on over to me. I raise my eyebrows demanding an explanation. "Oh, Cato you'll never guess what just happened!" He's giggling and smiling widely. "Tell me! I can't possibly guess," I say as sarcastically as possible. "Well, Glitzy asked me personally to be her training partner," He laughs. "I won't say yes of course, but to think she asked me! I know you say you hate her, but I actually really like her!" I can tell his voice is a bit doubtful, because he thinks I'll get mad at him for liking her. But I just shake my head. "It's fine," I sigh. "Just make sure we end up partners and do NOT let her get in your way!" Griffin gives a quick 'Aye aye captain' sign, but then turns around as Coach Pete walks in the doors. He has a slight frazzled look on his face and his papers are flying everywhere. "Good morning self training students. I am extremely busy today, so I need to get this done as quickly as possible, okay? Good. Now, most years we ask everyone to choose their partnerss, and then just pair up whoever doesn't have a partner. However, rules are made to be broken because this year we have set your partners due to your abilities. I will now call them out." It takes a while fo the shock of the moment to sink in for everyone. When it does, there is immediate objection. "That's unfair!"  
>"We're supposed to choose!"<br>"This is ridiculous!"  
>Petes voice booms like thunder through the room. "SILENCE! YOU WILL NOT GET TO CHOOSE THIS YEAR, THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT IS! Now, if you would kindly let me finish. Glitzy, you're with Jake." Ha! Jake the nerdy guy. I'm sure Glitzy is very happy about that. "Katie! You are partners with Merco. Simon and Paul are together. Jonas and Robo, you're together. Griffin and Knight!" What? Great, Griffin got Knight! There go any chances I had of getting put with him. "Xander! Go with Paris. Clove! You got Cato!" Oh, well thats an okay person I guess- WHOA! CLOVE? They have got to be joking! I eye Clove who winks at me a bit and laughs. I try to object but Pete raises his voice to show he doesn't care. "Madison with Denise, Mandy and Callum..." I hide my face with my hands because I can practically feel Clove walking towards me. It looks like I was right, because when I look up, she's standing there with a smug grin on her face and crossed arms. "Well, Cato. We start work tommorow at 8:00 am sharp." She winks. "See you then!" Clove walks away with a sway in her hips. My eyes frantically start to look for Griffin in the room, but when I see him, he's socialising with Knight and the whole combat team. The combat team is everyone from our school who competes in the Combat Games, which is basically something that the 5 academies in District 2 hold every now and then as a slight spoof of the Hunger Games. No one dies of course, there are all sorts of special rules. You can get injured, but if a certain move is performed on you, you 'die' and are removed from the game. When one entire team is eliminated, the other team wins, no matter if they've lost any team members or not. Basically, being in the combat team buys you a ticket to eternal popularity. Not the kind that I have, a kind that gets you all the girls, everyone wants to do your homework and be your friend, and no matter how many times you mess up, everone still loves you! With me, I have to work to keep my image up, and I'm still not awarded with much. I shoot a few more pleading looks to Griffin before I realise that he's ignoring me totally, so I leave the room, annoyed at having such a bad day.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

As I throw a couple of spears at he nearby targets, I quickly scan the room every so often for Clove, but she's keeping herself busy enough with a bow. She seems to be playing with the strings like it's a harp. I chuckle, because she's really trying to look all professianal, but she really doesn't have a clue what she's doing. It's quite amusing to watch her actually, and after a while I find myself grinning like an idiot at her. She makes eye contact with me, and it takes a second to realise what just happened to me and to replace the smile with a scowl. Clove litteraly throws her bow aside and starts to walk over to me. I roll my eyes in frustration because I was hoping to avoid her for as long as possible. Of course, I knew at some point we have to talk because we are training partners after all, but I was hoping to postpone it for a while. "Hi Cato," she spits out. "Look, I know you don't want to talk but we really do have to work together from now on." I roll my eyes at her, waiting for the smug laugh that usually follows, but the cold, hard look on her face stays the same. The next thing she does is grab a couple of knives from one of the nearby boxes and hand me 2, keeping 3 for herself. "I can teach you," she says. "I can teach you about knives if you teach me how to handle a sword." I give a small nod, not looking at her. I'm pretty annoyed that I have to spend the rest of my academy life with this girl; I would happily do it with anybody else. Even... Even... Even Glitzy! Just anyone except Clove. She's annoying, smug, self-centered, and hanging out with her will make me lose any popularity that I have. Glitzy may be sickening, but I think I could avoid her and train by myself. Also, Glitzy could boost my popularity in a minute! And I guess, well she is actually really pretty, as much as I hate her... "Cato!" Clove is yelling in my face, and I snap back to reality. "Oh, yeah sure," I mumble. Why not? Over the next few hours, Clove teaches me the basics of knives and how to attack with them. I get pretty good in the end, but I know I'm not nearly as good as her. It's like me and my sword. I am quick, fluent and I can do it with practically no effort. After I think I've done the best I can with the knives, I show her all I know about swords. We may only have started weaponry a few week ago, but I've been practicing sword-craft since I could walk. It appears Clove has done the same with knives, and she may have gotten more practice than me, because I remember everyday of school she was chucking them about. Clove is super easy to teach; she understands everything and picks up tips quickly. It doesn't take me long to realise that despite the fact she is useless with bows, she has a talent with weapons all round. When we've finished for the day, Clove thanks me for teaching her about swords. She sticks out a hand akwardly, and I hesitantly shake it. Without another word, she smiles a different smile and walks away, without her sway in her hips. The smile she gave was odd. It wasn't smug, a smirk, or anything cold. It was warm and friendly. I watch as she walks off, and I think to myself secretly how pretty she looks as the wind gently blows her hair around, and she actually walks normally. I smile a little smile at her, and I feel a warm stirring in my chest. Hang on a second, I hate Clove. I can't let myself fall for her. We are training partners, our relationship is strictly proffensional. I shake the feeling off and start to walk away. It's hard not to look back a bit, but I manage to convince myself not to- well, sort of. At one point I turn my head back and I'm not paying attention to what's in front of me. A boy bumps into me and drops all of his papers. Being my cruel self, I apolagise and stand over him as he collects up all his papers and folders. From the ground he gives a small cough and says "You know, it would be nice if you gave me a little bit of help down here Cato." I immediatly jump at the voice, because it is strangely familiar. In about 2 seconds I indentify it as Griffin's and throw myself down onto the floor to help him, apolagising over and over and over. "That's fine Cato, don't worry," he laughs. Even when the guy has tripped over and has been ignored by hi friend, he's still in a pretty good mood. "Hey, uh Cato. I'm sorry we didn't get to be training partners. It's just-" Somewhere from across the hall Knight calls him over to the combat team. "I better go," he says. I simply nod because I'm still looking at the combat team. Some beefy kid nudges Knight and whispers something to him. Knight replies with a curt nod and whistles for Griffin. It's hard not to laugh at the sight of Griffin scuttlling over at the call of a whistle, like a dog. When he gets over there, Knight gives me a quick dirty look and starts patting Griffin on the back. The rest of the team is congratulating him and cheering. What on earth? I watch as Knight starts digging around in his bag and searching for something. When he pulls out an official 2nd Academy Combat Team Jumper and hands it to Griffin, things start to fall into place. My heart practically skips a beat when I lipread the words "you're on the team" from Knight and watch him lead the rest of the team from the hall.


	6. Chapter 6

"And where have you been all day," asks my father the second I walk in the door. "Uh, school! You know, that place I've gone to every week day since I was 4?" I try to get as much sarcasm into my voice as possible, but my father simply nods and acts as though he's remembering something. I take a quick glance to the table to see loads of empty bottles and instantly figure out whats going on. "Okay, since you were 4," he says. "Uh, how old are you now?" He scratches his head and rolls his eyes at me. "I'm 5," I hiss, getting annoyed. His eyes widen a bit in interest and I scream back at him "No, I'm 13 you idiot!" It's useless. He's not listening, and he's convinced I'm 5 years old. "So hows that Griffin kid?" I stare back at him and sigh. He may be drunk, but he's someone to talk to. "Griffin and me haven't spoken in a few days. You see, they've changed all the rules for self training now, and we were given partners. Griffin got Knight, the captain of the combat team. I got... I got the Clove girl. The-" I hesitate to say the word, because now I've sort of got to know her, she's actaully okay. "The kind of annoying one. I bumped into Griffin today, but we didn't get to talk, because Knight called him over. Then, he was invited- well he wasn't invited he was sort of told that he was on the combat team." I finish and look around to see how well he took all that in. Not really to my surprise I find that he's passed out on the floor. I kick him a bit, but give up and sigh after a while. A normal Dad. Thats all I ask for! Is it that hard for him to avoid drinking and actually spend some time with me, because he's actually a pretty nice guy when he's not drunk. All of a sudden, there's a banging on the door and I'm forced to leave my dad on the kitchen floor and see who it is. As I open the door, I get a small shock, because the dark haired girl at my doorstep is Clove. A worried look is set on her face, and she looks as though she's going to explode if she doesn't speak right away. "It's about Griffin," she quickly says. "He's on the combat team, and there's going to be a game next week."

"So what?" I exclaim. "I don't care about him anymore." Of course I care about Griffin! The only reason I said that is well, I guess jealousy got the best of me. "No time," she pants. "The bad thing is they've changed the rules. You're aloud to kill people now." My mouth drops open in shock. "Yeah," she continues. "Apparently Knight had something to do with it. And, lets admit it. Griffin doesn't stand a chance. They're playing against 5th Academy." Clove struggles to breathe. She's been running all the way here by the looks of things, and she just had to speak so fast that she is completely out of breath. When I open my mouth to say something, she starts running away again, and before I know it she's gone. I sigh, and turn around to go check on my dad, and my heart skips a beat when I see him standing behind me, holding another bottle. He manages to garble "Pretty girl," before he collapses onto the floor again.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, I'm huddled up in the stadium stands with Xander, Callum, Mandy and Denise. It's absoloutely freezing and there is hardly any room in the stadium. Our academy (2nd Academy) is playing against 5th Academy; the biggest, strongest, best academy in all of District 2. We're lucky we only have 5 academies over here, because I've heard out in District 1 they actually have 15 of them. Most of the academies here are small to medium sized. But then you have 5th Academy, which is massive. Once you've got all the kids from our academy, and the ones from 5th Academy crammed into the stadium, and all the staff from both schools, we practically have to sit on each others laps to fit in. We used to come out to the stadium in Strength class back when everyone was on the set class schedule to do some exercises, but of course they have to create a poor replica of an arena a month before the Combat Games, and then no one is able to use the stadium. For the past few years, the Combat Games have been relatively safe; people have been hurt but never lethally injured. But of course, the rules changed a week ago. People die now, and it's basically The Hunger Games except the same people fight each time. Griffin has just joined the Combat Team, and I'm very suspicious. Are the team going to abandon him? Offer him up as prey to the opposing team? Or worse, kill him themselves? Surely that must be against the rules. Even if it's not though, they need as many people as they can get. Right? Oh it's such agony to watch this, knowing that I could lose my best friend at any moment. It reminds me of the time I made fun of that little kid for crying when his older brother went into the Hunger Games that year. Of course, now I understand the way he felt, and I wish I could apolagise. His brother died in the games, and he volunteered the next year and died too. I pull my hood up and wrap my coat tighter around myself. Denise looks at me and realises how rain sodden I am, so she holds her umbrella over me and smiles. I give a small smile back but look away and try to find Griffin in all the madness. Eventually, I spot him and the team hiding in the tall dry grass as 5th Academy cooks something over a fire. Griffin looks awful. Like he's freezing and hungry. The combat games don't usually last as long as the Hunger Games. Most of the time they last for roughly the whole school day, maybe a little longer. Our school day usually lasts 7 hours; it starts at 7:30 am and finishes at 2:30 pm. If the games haven't finished by around 3:30 pm, they just call it a tie. If I'm totally honest, I don't really understand the new rules for the Combat Games, because if we lose, it means we lose the whole team, and we have to pick a new one. There are usually 3 Combat Games every year, and each team has to have a minimum of 5 members, and a maximum of 10. So for every game we lose, we also lose 5-10 students of the academy. Isn't it just... way too much effort? To lose both students and members of the team? I think about what Clove said to me a week ago. "Knight had something to do with it." I think about this for a moment. Does being the captain of the team give him the authority to change the rules? Surely it doesn't. But if it does... Why would he change the rules? And that's when it hits me. He doesn't like Griffin as his training partner, so he's invited him onto the team and changed the rules so Griffin would die, and he's be assigned with a new training partner! Well, not on my watch! I'm not letting him do that to my best friend. I start to feel myself shaking in anger, and Denise sees me too. "Are you okay Cato?" She asks in a worried voice. I start to nod, but change my mind and say "Do you know who changed the Combat Games rules?" Denise nods. "It was Knight. He said he thought the Combat Games were too safe and gave everyone a false lull of security that The Hunger Games was a lot easier than it actually is," she shouts; it would be too loud to hear hershe simply spoke. "So wait," I question. "The captain can just change the rules?

"Yeah. Stupid isn't it?" Denise gives a small, sad laugh, and I sense real pain in her eyes. I sigh and she bites her lip. I can tell we both think it's totally unfair. Denise looks back at me and stares into my eyes as I stare back at hers. Not a word passes between us as we sit next to each other, gazing at each other. She breaks the moment by shivering with cold, and instinct makes me unzip my coat and wrap it around her and myself, pressing her against my body .I can both feel and hear her breathing, and the gentle beating of her heart. It warms me up, even though it's still freezing all around me. I look up to find Xander and Callum holding back laughter as they stare at the both of us, and I mouth the words "Go away." They suddenly burst into enormous fits of laughter and can't seem to stop themselves. Mandy giggles a bit to try and join in, but it's obvious she doesn't find it particually funny. If Griffin were here, he would probably ignore the whole situation. The problem is, Xander and Callum are horribly immature and can't take a thing seriously. I can see in Mandy's eyes she's jealous, and I take my turn trying not to laugh. The girl was cold, and she gave me an umbrella and information. I guess I owed her! All of a sudden, Xander stops laughing and points down at the stadium. We all look down to find that our team is fighting 5th Academy, and thankfully we haven't lost any members yet. They are literally killing the final person when one of our team members, Jayden, is struck in the heart by a knife thrown by the final 5th Academy. He clutches his heart and drops to the ground, just as Knight thrusts a sword into the kid who killed Jayden, and victory trumpets blow. Xander and Callum start cheering and Mandy claps a little bit. Denise is still nestles against me inside my coat. I have to let her go because I think I'm giving her the wrong impression. She looks slightly shocked, because I must have made her think I liked her. For a second I feel like quietly walking away, but I can tell she's upset so I have to secretly roll my eyes and lean in to kiss her. She kisses back, only with a little too much passion. I gently break away and hold her face in my hand, about to explode with laughter. She thinks its real, and here I am only pretending to like her so she doesn't get upset. But, because you can never have too much bad luck, when I look around the stadium it's Clove who's been watching me and Denise. She gets up from the stadium and walks off- alone. Denise is holding my arm and smiling up at me, and I resist the urge to shake the clingy girl off. To take my mind off her, I watch as the combat team is celebrating and laughing with each other. Thankfully, Griffin is alive and seems unharmed. The only member with a visable injury is Simon, who has a gash on his leg. "Hey Cato, you coming?" Callum and Xander are about to go down to the stadium to congratulate the team. Me and Denise both get up to join them, and I gesture to Mandy to come, but she shakes her head and continues reading some book. As we run down the slippery stairs, we have have to hold on tightly to the railing, to see we don't trip on the wet stairs. I try to go as fast as possible to keep away from Denise and give her the slip, but I get lucky because she see's one of her friends and stops to chat. Still, I don't lose a second when I sprint down the stairs. "Whoo! You guys did great out there," laughs Callum. Xander pats Knight on the back and Callum starts to make up some weird cheer for them. I start frantically searching for Griffin, because we need to get to the Head of the academy as fast as possible. After a few minutes, I go flying into Griffin, and we clutch each others shoulders to steady ourselves. "Oh, hey Cato. Look, I was wondering, can we talk somewhere? I really need to speak with-"

"No time," I interupt him. "We have to get the Head. Now!" He looks horribly confused, and I just grab his arm and start dragging him out of the stadium. The halls are empty inside of the academy, and we manage to get to the Head's office without encountering anyone. Griffin treks mud throughout all the hallways, and the carpets are basically dead. We burst into the Head's office, and apparently give her a horrible fright. "Head Lakely! Head Lakely!" I yell her name as I drag Griffin into the room. She drops all her papers in shock and asks in an annoyed voice, "What is it Cato?" I take a moment to get my breath back. "And you've dragged this poor, confused boy here as well. This better be good!" I slam my fists down on her desk. "It's Knight. He's changed the rules of The Combat Games. People can die now. He got put with Griffin for training, and he didn't want Griffin for a partner. So he invited him on the team and changed the rules so he would die." Head Lakely looks confused. "Cato that doesn't make any sense! Knight changed the rules for reasons that are perfectly understandable! I heard your team won and no one died, so this Griffin boy will still be alive! Okay? Cato, I don't know why you always assume some evil plot is going on. If Griffin wants, he can quit the combat team. I'm guessing this is Griffin here?" She gestures to him and I nod, avoiding eye contact. "Well then he is given the choice. Griffin? Would you like to quit the combat team?" Griffin shakes his head vigourosly, and I sigh. "Then it's settled," she says. "Griffin is on the combat team, and the rules will remain unchanged. Good day, Cato and Griffin."

"Wait!" I shout. "Don't you think it's a stupid idea? Having to lose 5 to 10 students every time we lose, to do what- train them? It makes no sense!" She looks as though she is considering something for a moment. "The other rules were much better," I continue. "Also, think how complicated it will be, having to chose an entirely new team for every loss? Please, just go back to the old rules!" Head Lakely thinks for a moment, sighs and then says "The rules will be changed. In the next games, no one will die. I will speak to Knight tommorow. You may leave this office, Cato and Mr. Griffin." I smile a bit, thank her, and leave the office with Griffin, just trying to imagine the look on Knights face when he hears the news.


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on Cato!" Clove is enthusiastically cheering me on. We've been training for a year, and we're 14 now. I'm about to undertake the Basic Knife Skill Level 1 test, and she's been telling me for ages how much she believes in me. We have both become closer as friends, and Griffin has changed completely. Denise finally realised I wasn't going out with her, and I hang out with Xander and Callum regularly. They may be immature idiots, but they're still good for a laugh or two. However, Clove is practically my best friend now. We trust each other more and can talk about the others problems. Clove has told me how both her parents tried to run away to District 1 when she was born, but they were caught and executed. Clove, being only a baby, was not found guilty and she was safely returned to District 2, where she now lives with her cousin Diamond who was 15 at the time. I told her about my idiotic Dad. In fact, Grififin didn't even know about his drinking problems when me and him were friends. Clove is the only person I've ever told. Clove is jumping up and down and shouting my name, which I have to admit is rather off putting. Unfortunately, Coach Pete is the examiner for today. He calls out "You may begin," and a few red lights flash, and the dummies light upand I know where I must hit them. With a slightly shaky hand, I lift the knife and take a deep breath. It takes all my courage to hurl the knife at the target, but when I do I put all the power I can possibly get into it. It strikes the first dummy in the shoulder, and the lights go off. My heart starts racing, because I know that you could never kill anyone with a knife in the shoulder. My whole body is shaking crazily. I slowly twirl the knife in my hand, hoping that maybe creativity could overcome skill. I hurl the second knife at the dummy, and thankfully, it hits the dummy in the head. Very quickly, it flashes green and then goes off. My heart starfs racing, and I close my eyes and I grip the 3rd knife in my hand.

_Come on Cato... you can do this._

Before I know it, the last knife is soaring through the air, and it imbeds itself into the heart of the third dummy. Everyone suddenly starts cheering and whooping, and Pete nod a little and smiles. With little modesty, I bow down to everyone and blow kisses.


	9. Chapter 9

"Well, Cato and Clove. It looks like you didn't do too badly in your tests." For the past week, me and Clove have undertook quite a few exams. I took the knife, sword and spear exams. Clove took the knife and the sword exams. Also, she decided to take the bow exam, which was rather hillarious to watch. After she finally loaded the bow, she made a failed attempt to shoot, and the arrow simply fell to the ground with a clutter. In frustration, Pete threw his papers in the air and left in a huff. Clove definitely exelled in her knife exam. The dummies flashed, and she had to strike each one in the heart, while the red light was active. She held all three knives in her hand at once and threw them with her eyes closed. Each one hit the target at the correct time. My spear and sword exams went pretty well, but I'm still convinced I could have done better. "Okay, Clove. Lets begin with you. Your bow exam. Well..." Pete raises his eyebrows at her. "Just don't go near another bow again please." I try not to laugh, but I have to let out a tiny snigger. "Now," Pete continues. "Your sword exam. Very, very good. You achieved Skill Level 8." I clap for Clove and pat her on the back. Skill Level 8 is amazing! The skill level system basically runs from 1 through to 10. If you exceed Skill Level 10, you have officialy mastered that weapon. So basically, Clove has nearly mastered something in one year that I have been working at for almost a life time. "Finally Clove, you have mastered the knife weapon. Congratulations. This will be placed on your permanent record. Moving on, Cato. Your knife exam. Skill Level 6. The spear, skill level 9. Well done. Also, you have mastered the sword weapon. I expect you to have mastered the spear by next year. Well done to the both of you. You may continue with your training." Coach Pete leaves us and moves on to Glitzy and Jake. I stick my hand out to shake Clove's, but she suprises me with a sudden hug. I hesitate for a second because of the shock of the moment, but afterwards I gently hug back. When she pulls away she says, "Wow Cato, you've mastered one skill, and practically mastered another!" I laugh a little. "Yeah but you've mastered one, and nearly mastered one that you've only been practicing for a year! Ive been practicing the spear and the sword for my whole life," I say truthfully. Clove shrugs and giggles, before pulling me over to the sword station. She grabs two swords and hands one to me with a smile. "Whats this for?" I ask. Clove puts on a thinking expression and laughs. "I thought that maybe we could try something new. I want to do hand to hand combat." I nod and say "Why not?" Clove stares at me for a second before sticking out her sword and gestures for me to do the same. Once both swords are touching the other, we begin a fight like one in the arena. Clove is strong with her sword. I may be better, but she's more determined than me. We are both creative with the swords, and she's not taking her eyes off mine, making sure she doesn't get distracted. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice one or two people watching us. I refuse to let it take away my concentration but it's unnerving. At one point, I just have to turn my head ever so slightly. Clove immediatly takes the oppertunity to knock my sword out of my hand. It's dissapointing, because when I looked around it turned out no one was actually watching us, and I lost the battle to Clove. "And now, she pants. "I kill you!" I have to take a moment to regain my breath before I can speak. I throw my hands up and surrender to her, which makes her give a light laugh. She leans down and pick up my sword and passes it back to me. "Ready to go again?" She asks with a smile. In answer, I grin and twirl my sword in my hand. "As ready as I'll ever be." Clove points her sword back at me and I point mine to her. We stay in this position for a while, and I notice Clove giving a warm smile as her cheeks give a rosy glow from the previous fight. Her hair is tied back, but loose wavy strands are fighting to escape. Dark like the night sky, her eyes are wide and smiling. She realizes I'm staring at her, and looks down. Clove steps closer to me, and I do the same thing. I have different feelings for her now than the early days of knowing her. Similar feelings to the time she walked off after our first day of training, only stronger. We move in closer to each other as I tuck a few pieces of hair behind her ear. Clove stands on tiptoe as she slowly leans in... All of a sudden, she lifts her sword in the air. Before I know it, she's holding her sword to the back of my neck, and she's stolen mine and got it pointed towards my heart. "Oh, Cato. Looks like I won again! You really need to work on not getting distracted. Let's say your in the arena, and some pretty flirty girl from another district is teasing you as she leans in to kiss you. But oh no! She shocks you because she has her weapon, as well as yours. So basically, your dead. And why? Because you were too easily distracted by a pretty girl." She releases her grip on me and drops both the swords on the floor. "Great training day," she says. "I'll see you tommorow Cato." Clove leans down to grab her books so she can leave, but there's no way she's leaving before I can talk to her. I take her hand and slowly pull her up. Clove looks up at me with a confused expression and asks in a hushed voice "What's wrong Cato?" I take hold of her other hand in mine as well. "Clove... I- I need to talk to you." Clove shrugs. "Yeah, sure Cato." I take a deep breath because I know it's going to be hard to say. "Okay, right. Clove, I've known you since day one. We may not have been friends, but we still knew each other. But then, that day I found out we were partners, I was... Well I was angry. I really didn't want to be your partner. But then we got to know each other, and I realised you were actually okay. And then, that day me and Denise were together in the stadiums and you saw us, I felt... Guilty. For some weird reason. Everyone just assumes I'm some cocky, selfish kid. A player even. But I'm not, honest. They all think that I fall for girls like Glitzy and Paris. I never will, I think they're nauseating. I never thought I'd fall for any girls, let alone the popular ones. But I guess... I did. I fell for you, Clove. Why do you think I got distracted today. If you were someone else, I would have taken the oppertunity and taken their sword. But I guess I just didn't, because you weren't someone else. I- I- I love you Clove. I always have, and I just didn't realize it until now." I finish, take a deep breath and hold it in. Clove stares at me in shock. "Oh Cato..." she whispers. A warm smile spreads across her face. She looks down at the ground, but I hold her face and lift it up. "I love you too Cato," Clove whispers to me. I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. I can feel 20 pairs of eyes set on us, but I don't let it bother me. I run her fingers along her jawline before I pull her in for a kiss. She presses her lips gently against mine. It's one hundred times better than when I kissed Denise; I guess it's because this time I'm actually kissing a girl I love. Clove gently breaks away and laughs a little; that girl is full of laughs. "I guess I'll see you tommorow," she quietly says. I nod a little as she walks off, and I smile widely I strut out of the hall, not particually caring that everyone is staring at me in disbelief.


	10. Chapter 10

It's been another year. Me and Clove have been dating for one, and training together for 2. I've mastered the spear and almost the knife. Clove has mastered the sword now, and she actually reached Skill Level 2 with the bow; she finally learnt how to load and shoot it. As for Griffin... Griffin's not alive any more. He went into the games last year, and didn't come out. People try to comfort me, but I don't like talking about it and I'd rather forget him. Knight is as lethal as ever, having mastered the knife, spear and sword. He's only 15, but he says he's volunteering this year for the Games. Most of the time when kids under 18 say they are volunteering, everyone objects. But this is Knight. We all know he can win the Games easily. Glitzy says if he's going in, she's going in; they've been together for a little while now. How great would that be? We'd be rid of both of them, because at least one has to die, and if the other wins, then they don't have to come back to the academy. But for today, me and Clove have to die of bordem at her cousin Diamond and her boyfriend's anniversary party. We're both sitting together on a couch, ignoring the loud music and cheering. Apparently, Diamond caked Cloves face in makeup, did her hair in some fancy style and made her wear a poofy silver dress for the occasion. Clove knew she was going to do this, so she got hold of me a few weeks early and said I had to wear a suit, so she didn't feel overdressed. Of course, I said no, but she convinced me in the end. So I'm, here in a fancy suit, and she's dressed in a huge satin silver, poofy dress studded with diamonds on the top. Apparently, Diamond and boyfriend, Dean, have been dating for 5 years, and don't want to get married because it makes them sound old, when they are both only 25 anyway. Clove nestles her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arms around her. We don't speak for at least 10 minutes. We sit in total silence as we cling onto each other in all the noise and madness. At one point, she starts to doze off in my arms, and I feel myself getting drowsy. All of a sudden, a man comes up to me and pulls me from the sofa. Clove immediatly wakes up and reaches out for me, calling my name. The man drags me up to the small stage area and stands me in front of the microphone. Because I'm still half asleep, I begin to think that Clove calling my name was actually me being called at the reaping, and the stage is the one in front of the Justice building. However, after a few seconds I know whats going on, and I realize Dean has pulled me up to do a speech. He asks me for my name, and I sleepily mumble "Cato Hadley." "Okay Cato," Dean says through the microphone. "How do you know Diamond?" I think for a moment how to word my next sentence. "Well, you know her younger cousin Clove? She's my girlfriend." Dean looks at me for a second. "So your telling me you don't know Diamond directly?" Dean asks. I shake my head. "No, never even spoke to her." Deans face turns red as he akwardly tries to push me off the stage. I don't object, and cooly walk of the stage to go and join Clove on the sofa. She smiles when I return, and I am rewarded with one of her laughs. "No offence, but that was pretty much pointless," Clove giggles. I throw myself down next to her and sigh. "Tell me about it." Clove leans up to me and I give her a quick kiss. "Oh that reminds me!" Clove says as she breaks away. "I have news. It's about... It's about Griffin." I look at her with a serious expression. "Clove, Griffin is dead. You can't possibly have any interesting news about him. I told you I want to forget him. "No, Cato this is important. They spoke to his parents, and they spoke about you. They said Griffin always spoke about how much he missed you being his friends, and Griffin said Knight made him stay away from him. He was terrified of Knight, and he had to do everything he said." I turn my face away from her and try not to let tears escape my eyes. "Cato, please. I'm sorry. I just thought you needed to know," Clove pleads. I shake my head and try not to let it get to me. "It's okay Clove, I'm fine." Clove holds my hands again and hugs me tightly. "I'm fine." Me and Clove sit together, hugging and talking about training, the academy, Knight, and all that stuff. She changes the subject regularly, clearly feeling bad about making me upset, and trying to take it off my mind. Eventually, people start to leave, and the party is finally over. Diamond and Dean are horribly drunk. Maybe not quite as drunk as my Dad gets, but still drunk. "I better go Clove," I say yawning. "It's getting late." Clove grabs my arm as I try to stand up. "Cato wait. Diamond and Dean, they're drunk. Trust me they're horrible when they get drunk. You said your Dad's out of town this week. Can I stay at your place for the night?" Clove's eyes grow wide and pleading. "Yeah, sure Clove. If you want," I say. Me and Clove head back to my house after that. I totally understand why she wants to. I used to go stay at Griffin's if my Dad got really drunk one night. And I'll admit it, I get lonely by myself at night, and it will be nice to have my Clove with me. Once we get back, Clove goes to wash all the makeup from her face, and I change from the uncomfortable suit into a loose pair of jeans. When Clove comes back, her face is makeup free, and her hair is down. It's all wavy and big from where it was done earlier, and I have to admit how naturally pretty she is. "Do you have anything I could wear?" Asks Clove. I throw her one of my shirts, and it comes up huge on her. It's actually quite cute. Clove kicks at her dress, which she's thrown on the floor. "What should I do with this thing?" Clove laughs. I shrug and suggest "Burn it." She starts cracking up as she comes to join me on my bed. Clove smiles and I pull her close to my body. She sighs as we hug, and I say "Whats up Clovey?"

"Oh, Cato. I'm worried that's all."  
>"About what?" If Clove gets worried, so do I. "Cato..." she stutters. "Cato I want you to promise something for me."<br>"Anything Clove," I say.  
>"Promise me you'll never volunteer." I look away from her shamefully. "Clove, I can't promise that... When I'm 18..."<br>"No, Cato, not when your 18, not now, now ever. Please." I see a small tear escape her eye. "But Clove, then everything we trained for would have been pointless. We wasted our lives learning how to fight, so we might as well put all we know to some good use." It's sad, but it's the truth. A few more tears run down her face, and I wipe them away and hold her face in my hands. "I just don't want to lose you," she says through tears. "Your my only friend- well I guess more than a friend now. But I can't imagine life without you." I gently kiss her and mop up some more tears. "Clove, if I ever went in there, I would get out. I would win for you, and we'd be in victors village and live happily ever after. But Clove, what we don't want is to go in there together. We both go into the arena... And only one of us comes out if any. I love you Clove, but I need you not to worry. You're safe in my arms, now and forever. I'll never let you go." I hold Clove against me, and we both hold on to each other for dear life. When Clove finally falls asleep, I kiss her forehead and whisper "Good night Clove." before I follow her lead and go to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

I can't believe time can pass so quickly. It's been another year, and me and Clove have been dating for 2. It's the day of the reaping, and we're lining up so they can do the Blood Check, before we all go stand with our age group and wait for the names to be called. I can't see Clove anywhere in the girls line, but I know she's here. Theres no one who's going to be definitely volunteering this year, so I can't guarantee her absaloute safety. Knight did volunteer last year, and so did Glitzy. The funny thing was, Knight killed her as soon as the Games started, and later on won the whole thing. He's been living in luxury ever since. After the blood check, they tell me to go stand with a load of other boys. I manage to find Callum and Xander in the crowd, and we stand together without saying a word. As Xander and Callum huddle together with fearful expression, I'm able to spot Clove in the madness, and she's standing alone, while other girls cling to each others arms. Everyone stands in total silence while we wait for Magix, our Districts name caller, or whatever they're actually called- it would have been useful to have been taught that at the academy. "Ah! Welcome, boys and girls of District 2! Now, the time has come to select one courageous young man and woman to do the honour, of representing District 2, in the 74th annual, Hunger Games. Now, we'd like to show you a very special clip that was brought to District 2 all the way from the Capitol!" Then, they show the stupid video they show every year to us at the reaping, that makes pretty much no sense. It's all "Terrible war" this, and "Widows, orphans" that. When the pointless clip is finally over, Magix toddles over to the first glass bowl before saying "Ladies first." She sticks her hand in and twirls around the names a bit. Eventually, she picks one, and carefully opens it up. She gives a slight cough, and says the name "Clove Sevina."

Wait... no! It can't be! I watch as the small girl that I love makes her way up to the stage. Her cold, hard expression doesn't change, but her eyes show that her face is only masking a frightened little girl. I'm in shock, and my face is translucent while my heart is racing. Xander is holding my hand and trying to keep me on my feet, but I feel sick and I want to just scream. Xander manages to bring me to my senses enough, and I manage to make out the words "Now" and "Boys." I don't actually hear who get's called, but I still find myself screaming at the top of my lungs "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" Magix looks a bit shocked, because I don't think she quite got to finish the name. She gestures to me to come up, and two peacekeepers come and stand by my side, as I slowly tiptoe up the the stage. On unsteady legs, I climb up the stairs as Magix pulls me up to the stage. Clove stares at me from behind Magix and whispers "What are you doing?" I look back up at Magix who is staring and smiling at me. "Whats your name sweetheart?"

"Cato Hadley," I say, trying to sound strong. "Well Cato, congratulations on volunteering!" CONGRATULATIONS? Is she joking? I just put my own life in danger, and I'm going to lose the girl I love, and she says congratulations? I grit my teeth and try to keep calm. I need to talk with Clove- alone. I know I can't cry, I must play the strong cocky boy- the player I told Clove I wasn't two years ago. All cameras will pick up any tears, or even quivers, and I'll be an instant target. Magix tells me and Clove to shake hands, and we do. I stare into her eyes and notice real pain in them as we cluth each others hand. A single, solitary tear rolls down her face, but she shakes her head a little and it slides behind her ear before dissapearing into her hair. As this happens, only one thought crosses my mind: I've got to get this girl out alive.


	12. Chapter 12

I feel horrible, cramped up in this room, waiting to see who's going to come and bid farewell to me. The first person barges into the room, and it comes as a bit of a shock to me, because the person in the room is Knight. "Cato," he says. "Cato look. I'm not going to waste time with a soppy goodbye. You can get out of there, I know it. Don't look so upset." That's not at all why I'm upset Knight. "Don't listen to what anyone else says. I've been in there, and the only key to doing it is to stay strong and trust no one." Knight grabs my shoulders and shakes me. "You're talented, Cato. You can win this thing." Just as two peacekeepers come inside to take him away, he shouts "Goodbye," and he's gone. I am left in shock... Knight? Why would he come to say goodbye, let alone give me helpful advice. It's a bit confusing, but I'm not aloud much time to think because Xander and Callum come bursting through the door. Before I can say anything, they throw their arms around me, and I find myself hugging back. "Dude you can win this," Callum whispers to me. "No I can't!" I practically yell as I feel a few tears coming. "Don't talk like that..." Xander starts speaking but I interrupt him. "No, I can't. It's Clove. I love her and I have to get her out alive, not me." Xander shakes his head. "No, Cato you need to get out. She doesn't have any people who care about her left here, so she'll be coming back for no one. And she'll be all alone. But Cato, you have us. And Mandy, Denise, and all your other friends." I feel a lump in my throat as I think about this. It's truthful. Clove... Doesn't have anyone else, as much as I love her. But, I could never live without her... My mind remembers something as I think about "all my other friends..." I swallow hard and try to say something. "Do you think... If Griffin were still here... He would come and say goodbye?" Callum nods, and gives me one last hug. I manage to say "Thank you for always being there for me when I needed a laugh, or to talk, or just anything at all," before they are called out by the peacekeepers. As the door slams shut, I wonder if that's everyone, if no one else cared enough to come. But I'm wrong, because there's still one more person to come visit. It's Mandy, and suprisingly she comes in with tears streaming down her face. She's one of my best friends, and I can't bear to see her upset. I pull her in for a hug, but she shakes her head and wipes her eyes. "I came to tell you something. Cato, you're one of my best friends, and I know you're really popular and have a lot of other choices for girls, and Clove is you're girlfriend, but-" She takes a deep breath. "I've always loved you." Her tears start pouring over again but she objects my offer to comfort her again. "I hope you win, Cato. If you don't, I'll miss you forever. Denise says goodbye too." After that, she leaves the room before peace keepers come to collect her. I stand in the room with my mouth wide open. I- I- I couldn't have ever guessed. She's always been so quiet, and she rarely even speaks to me. I'm still in shock when the peace keepers come to collect me to get me on the train.


	13. Chapter 13

We sit on the train in silence. I'm still fighting back tears, and Clove stares at the wall, barely blinking. "How could you?" she whispers. "You said that day that you didn't want us both to go into the arena. You know at least one of us has to die!"  
>"I had no choice!" I yell back.<br>"Oh of course you did! Much more than I had!"  
>"I don't know what I was thinking," I cough as my voice breaks. "I think I just wanted to protect you."<br>"I can protect myself Cato. I don't want us to be the last two in the arena. I couldn't do that." Clove keeps her face emotionless, but I start to feel tears pour over. "Well we have to decide how we're going to go at this. I'm guessing you're going to be the lethal, arrogant boy, and I'm going to be the hostile and lethal yet quiet girl. Am I right?" Clove asks. I take a deep breath and nod, but then say "Clove please can we not talk about this now." She rolls her eyes and turns away from me, just as a man and a woman walk into the carriage. "Hello," says the solemn women. The beefy man simply waves a hand and comes over to inspect us. "Cor blimey, look at you two!" He crosses him arms and smiles. "You, sir, look like a boy the Capitol will go crazy for!" He checks a piece of paper from his pocket. "Cato and Clove?" We both nod. "Excellent. I'm Jayo," he says, and points to the woman. "And that's Perrie over there. We're your mentors, as well as Magix who will be doing a small bit of the work. You two know each other?" Just as I open my mouth to say something, Clove steps in and says "Never met each other until today." I try to think what her reasoning is, but I can't work it out. When Jayo turns around, Clove gives me a dirty look and shakes her head. I sigh, and think I'll have to ask her later. "Do you two have any experience?" Asks Perrie. I really don't like the way she spat out the sentence. "Yeah," I say with a slightly arrogant smile. "I've mastered the spear and the sword, and Clove here's mastered the knife and the sword." Perrie suprises us with a laugh. "Mastered?" she hisses. "Are you telling me you've mastered two weapons each at the age of 16? I highly doubt that." Clove jumps in. "Well in the marking scheme of our district, technically we have-"  
>"You have mastered nothing. No one officially masters anything in The Hunger Games-it's simply judged by whether or not you have an obvious talent. Okay, Miss. Sevina?" Clove stares at her in digust, and gives a curt nod before storming out of the carriage. Jayo sighs and shakes his head. "Go get her Cato," he tells me. I follow his orders and go to find Clove. The first place I think to look is her room, and sure enough I find her on her bed, with her feet up. "Hey, Clove. Don't listen to Perrie. You and I both know you're talented in knives. Don't let her-"<br>"No, it's not that Cato. I just think that... You know. I'm just kind of angry that you volunteered for that kid, and now we're stuck in this mess." Clove sighs, and I jump on to the bed and lay down next to her. "So," I say. "Why does Jayo have to think we don't know each other? I mean, I'm in, I won't blow whatever your trying to do, but I need to know why." Clove thinks for a moment. "It's a little easier. It means that we aren't targets, and people don't use it to our weakness. Understand what I'm saying?" I nod, and yawn a bit. "Clove, I've had a pretty long day. Can I take a quick nap?"  
>"Only if I can as well," she says as she yawns and rolls over. In less than a minute, she's asleep, just as I feel myself drifting away.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

When I wake up, I feel cold, and I reach out to pull Clove closer to me, but I find myself grasping air. Carefully, I open one eye, and find the bed perfectly made on her side. Giving a huff, I roll over to get off the bed, and recieve a heart attack when I see Jayo standing with hands on hips by the bed.

"OH MY GOD," I scream, as I crash onto the floor in shock.

"CATO! We've been waiting to start lunch for 20 minutes! Get down to the dining car now!" Jayo points a finger at the door, so I stretch and yawn before going out the door, with him close on my heels.

Later on, we're in the dining car, eating a light meal of soup and bread. Magix is constantly complimenting the meal, but she doesn't seem to be eating anything. Perrie is eating slowly, and trying to act all posh, while Jayo is practically slurping down the whole bowl. Considering soup only requires a spoon, me and Clove use one hand to eat, and use the other to hold hands under the table, where no one can see.

After Jayo finishes a very noisy meal, he throws his spoon down on the table. "So. Have you guys decided how you want to approach the games, considering you're careers?" He doesn't give us a chance to answer. "Cato, personally I think you should go at it with an arrogant, but deathly if anyone messes with you approach. That will win you sponsers. You girl, now you're face is screaming two words at me- Hostile and Lethal. That's how I want you to play. Now, I've had a look at District 1 tributes. The girl... basically a blonde bimbo. Shouldn't be too hard to eliminate. As for the boy, he doesn't seem very smart, but he's strong. Not quite as strong as you Cato, but strong. The girl is 16, and so is the boy. They both volunteered, so they are both going to be very prepared for this. Don't expect them to be idiots." Clove nods, and I notice how she's avoided eye contact with Perrie for the whole of dinner. She must hate the living guts out of her. All of a sudden, light pours through the window, and Clove drops my hand from under the table and stares at the mirraculous, tall buildings on the sunny skyline. I nudge her arm, and she gasps in amazement.

"Looks like we've been missing out on alot for all this time," she says with a wink, still not taking her eyes off the window.

"Yeah, I guess we have."

I'm waiting in my 'private dressing room' so I can meet my stylist. I've supposedly been pre-styled my by prep team, but the only thing they did is go gaga over my hair and muscles. To be totally honest, I could have done without it, because I have been trying to concentrate on the games lately, and that didn't help. After a while, a young girl of about 17 years walks into the room, in a frilly pink dress, with two spiral bunches, each one accesorised with a big baby pink bow. She reminds me of a doll, or maybe little bow peep- with extra peep.

"Hi," I sigh. "Wheres my sylist, I've waiting for ages-"

"I am your stylist Cato. It's nice to meet you," she says calmly.

"But..." I say with my eyebrows raised. "Aren't you a little young?"

The girl shakes her head at me with a smile. "My name is Mercury-Angel. I already know yours." I can't help but laugh a little. Mercury-Angel? What kind of name is that? I laugh in my head at all the wierd names back home- Knight, Glitzy, Merco, Robo, Diamond... it just goes on and on, doesn't it? But Mercury-Angel... what on earth is that? Capitol names must be even wierder than 2- I mean Magix? Really?

"So Cato, you're costume has already been determined- if you'd like to follow me and we can get you ready." Mercury-Angel leads me to a small walk in closet, and hands me a golden gladiator outfit. She walks out of the room so I can get it on, and when I'm ready she adds a wierd powder to my face and a creamy thing, before using a gel to spike up my hair. Finally, she looks my up and down and says "I think you're ready."

When we're waiting by our horse and cart, I watch Clove, who is thankfully wearing the same thing as me, storm up to me in a huff.

"Whoa, what's up with you?" I add a laugh and a smile, but she still looks annoyed.

'My stylist, Hanna. I walked right into the room, and she looked at me in disgust and said 'Wow! Aren't you a piece of work! For the last few years, we've had all the already naturally pretty girls, the easy ones! I'm sure glad I've got some real work to do!'" Clove tries to replicate Hannas voice by speaking like a drunk chipmunk. I laugh a little, but I feel shameful, because I was only laughing at the chipmunk voice, when she's really hurt.

"Come on Clove, she was just messing with you. Im fact, just about every one is; first Perrie, now Hanna!" I say reasurringly.

"They weren't just messing, she hisses dangerously.

"Clove come on. You're beautiful, and you and I know it."

"You know, I think it's only you in the world who knows it Cato," she says emotionlessly. I open my mouth to say something, but Hanna comes and rushes us into the cart.

"Heads high, wave a little. You'll be fine." And with one pat on the back from Mercury-Angel, we're off. Clove and me stand tall in the cart, and once we're out in view of the freakish Capitol citizens, we wave without a smile at each side. After we're about half way there, everyone starts cheering like mad. Clove looks at me and I look at her. I look back, and it's clear all the other tributes are confused too. We all look back, and are shocked to see the District 12 tributes in a black suit thats been lit on FIRE, and they're holding hands, while holding them up in the air. I watch as the girl is tossed an actual red rose, and she sniffs in and blows a kiss. Clove scowls at her, bur I'm still staring in disbelief. The District 12's... have litterally taken all the attention away from us and stolen it all for themselves. Clove shakes her head and keeps staring, but I ignore them and keep looking forward, hoping it will be over soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Later that night, Clove and I are about to go to sleep.

"Cato..." Clove whispers. "You won't... You know... Forget about me in the arena?" Clove stares at me with a worried look on her face. "Of course I won't! I told you, I'm going to do anything I can to get you out alive," I tell her. "Yeah but, you say that now. You promise you won't go mad and kill me?" she asks. "I promise. But how you interpret that depends on how much you trust me. Do you trust me?"

"I do." Clove puts her head on my shoulders and I wrap my arms around her. Very slowly, I tuck a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, quietly whispering her name. "Cato, how are we going to get out of this? I mean at least one of us has to die, if not then both of us. I don't think I could live without you." A small tear runs down her face. I gently wipe it away and hold her face in my hand. "Hopefully you wont have to. Maybe we'll both win."

"Maybe..." Her voice is hushed and weak. This means something's wrong. For a moment we just lay on the bed, staring into each others eyes, clinging on to each other for life. Very hesitantly, I begin to move in to her. She doesn't object, so I go in more confidently. As I press my lips against hers, holding her closer, because I know this could be the last time we get to be so close. I play with her hair in my hands while we kiss. Slowly, I start to feel my self getting drowsy, and I hold her hand tighter so she won't leave me. She gets the message and the words faintly pass her lips "I'll never go." Just before I doze off, I mumble "We're leaving that arena one way or another; together, or not at all." I wake the next morning to find mine and Clove's position unchanged since last night. I poke her arm to see if she's awake, and I find she is still asleep. Watching her sleep, I realise how beautiful she really is. Of course, I always thought she was beautiful from afar, but I can now study her face more closely. Her perfect face shape, the way soft strands of hair always seem escape from her hairstyle, no matter how she does it. The way her long eyelashes softly brush against the underneaths of her eyes when she blinks and sleeps. I hold my hand against her face lightly as she sleeps. I begin to wonder what she dreams of at night. The games? Life in 2? Diamond? Me? Remembering those nights where my dreams were simply filled with her face, I begin to hope her dreams are made up of me. Clove really is perfect when she sleeps. She never snores or talks or rolls around. She simply curls up and stays there for the night. Thinking of how flawless she is reminds me how I can't lose my knife princess, and how I have to die to get her out. I gently press my head against her chest and whisper the words "I love you." Her head moves ever so slightly, and she groans as she wakes herself up. "Hey Clovey," I say. "Hi Cato," she mutters with a smile as she rubs her eyes. "Did you sleep well?" I ask. She gives a slight movement of her head to indictae that she did. "You?" she whispers. I nod and begin to tuck those small strands of hair behind her ear. We are still in the same position when Jayo bursts into the room. Clove jumps from the bed in fear and the blanket covers her face. "What on earth- Why didn't you say you two had a thing?" His face is flushed red with anger. "Now you two idiots are going to be instant targets for the others! Your not tough careers anymore, your two stupid kids experiencing puppy love!" Clove starts stuttering on the floor, in such shock that she can't find her way out of the blanket. "We won't tell them! Really! No one will know, I promise. We will hide it." I manage to get out through the fear of the moment. Jayo sighs and points an accusing finger at me. "You better Cato. I'm not giving up district 2's victory crown just for 2 kids in love. Now both of you get out of my sight. Magix wants to see you downstairs." Neither of us moves. "NOW!" Jayo yells. Both of us scurry out of the room, hand in hand. In my mind, I think of how I could possibly pretend not to love my knife princess.


	16. Chapter 16

A few hours later, I'm standing with Clove in the training hall. We are both dressed in the same blue, black and red suits. We both know how tight fitted they are, and how my muscles almost rip through the fabric. I give them a quick flex to scare the other tributes and, yes, for Clove as well. She giggles slightly and pushes me gently. I laugh too, but I know I have to hide our relationship, so I try to turn it into a cough. "Okay Cato, we need to have a fake relationship of some sorts. Cato, we have to hate each other, or basically we die. Got it?" There is a horribly serious look on her face. "Why can't we just be friends?" I ask. "Because," she says. "We hate each other now. Goodbye." And with that she walks away. I can't help but stare after her as she dissapears from my sight. How am I supposed to hate her? Or even pretend to? I ponder on this for a while, when suddenly I feel something grab onto my arm. I turn around to find a tall, bubbly blonde at my side. She's smiling up at me with a happy look on her face. All of a sudden, it strikes me. How to get the audience to believe that me and Clove have no relationship what so ever. "Hi!" The girl giggles and tosses back her blonde curls. I give her a sexy, cunning smile back. I don't want to be seen as a foolish boy in love like Jayo said. I want to be the gorgeous strong guy who always gets all the girls with his cunning, provoctavive ways. Of course, it's not who I really am, but it's a character I'm pretty darn good at playing. "Hey," I say in my deepest voice possible. "Im Glimmer," she laughs. It's sickening, the way she can't stop giggling and smiling. Almost as sickening as the way Glitzy used to laugh. No. Nothing could possibly be as nauseating as Glitzy. Even the name: Glittt-zeeee. Disgusting. It's probably because I'm so used to Cloves dark smiles, hostile frowns and her oh-so beautiful, fluttery laugh. "Cato," I tell her, still grinning madly. She laughs (AGAIN) and starts telling me how talented she is with a bow, and how excited she is for this years Hunger Games. I make sure I flex my muscles every now and then to keep her interested, but I know theres no way she's going to be leaving any time soon. I watch as she demonstrates her poor talent with a bow. Crossing my arms, and still grinning like a tiger, I nod and kick my feet a little. Her obviously awful talent reminds me of Clove and her bow. I laugh a little in my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Clove watching me from the knife station. Her eyes seem wide and annoyed as she watches Glimmer trying to shoot a bow, and she stifles a laugh, clearly remembering that day she couldn't even load the bow. However, her expression turns annoyed and concerned as she watches Glimmer slither (nearly litterally) over to me, and give me a nose kiss before pulling me back over to tediously watch her attempt to shoot a target. Clove stares in disgust, but then stomps off to another station. "So Cato," Glimmer says with, of course, a little laugh in her voice. "Have you got a, you know, special girl back in District 2?" I take a moment to decide what Cato the player would say. "Yeah. A lot of them actually," I growl. Okay, now I'm pushing it. Maybe the growl was a little too much. Glimmer throws her head back and supposively cracks up laughing, but I can tell it's 100% fake. I can't help it, and I have to roll my eyes at her. Luckily, she doesn't notice, and I sneak away, leaving her laughing by herself. When I'm out of sight, I watch her look aimlessly around, going "Cato?" I start laughing myself, but I bump into Clove when I turn round. "Well," she sighs, with her arms crossed. "It looks like someone's getting to know their fellow tributes. Getting to know them very well!" Clove looks really annoyed. "Just, deciding who I want as allies, and how useful they'll be. Anyway, why would you care about me and Glimmer? Me and you hate each other." I feel pleased with myself, and I raise my eyebrows with a smile. Clove thinks for a second for something to say, but she only narrows her eyes and says "I'm going to get something to eat," with a scowl.


	17. Chapter 17

After a really quick lunch, it's back to training- me and Glimmer are waiting at the sword station.  
>Glimmer drags her foot around the floor as she hopelessly clings onto my arm. She runs her finger up and down my muscles, and I feel like I want to throw up because this whole thing is so repulsive, but I have to keep this sexy grin on my face.<p>

"So… Cato," Glimmer whispers. "Are you excited for the Games?" Her tongue flicks about in her mouth when she speaks, as if to draw instant attention to her mouth.  
>"I guess," I shrug. "Just can't wait for them to be over. Or should I say, can't wait to win them." Glimmer giggles and gives a whistle over to a boy standing on the other side of the hall. He drops the spear he's polishing and saunters over. "Hi," he says gruffly. I give him a nod to greet him, but I'm not really up for any kind of talking at the moment. Glimmer tells me he's her district partner, and his name is Marvel.<br>"Where's your District Partner Cato?" Glimmer asks the question in a hushed, provocative voice. I point over to Clove at the knife station. "Her names Clove. She's okay at throwing knifes, but there's not a lot else she's useful for." I try to sound as though I think nothing of her, but the thought of saying anything like that is just despicable and my voice catches on the end.  
>"Okay," Glimmer says. "We'll try to get her out of the way as soon as possible." A smirk creeps onto her glossy pink lips, and I try to give a sly grin, but I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I have to turn away. Glimmer places a hand on my shoulder but I shrug it off and stomp over to the spear station where Marvel was earlier. I can't find another way to express my anger, so I throw a spear with all the force I can possibly put into it across the hall. Two people have to duck to make sure they don't get hit, but it finally plummets into a dummy and knocks it over on the other end of the hall. Something between a sigh and a yelp escapes my lips, as I know my anger is gone- for now. I watch as Glimmer and Marvel gaze in awe, as if they are dumbstruck by what- my strength? Anger? Nerve? As I turn round, I see two trainers coming up to me with angry looks on their faces. I immediately know that I'm in trouble. They grab me by the arms and start to carry me from the hall and no amount of kicking and shouting will change their minds. It's a horrible experience, and really embarrassing too. Just before the doors shut, I shoot a pleading look to Clove, who turns away from my face. I give a sigh, and allow myself to be carried away.<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

As I sit with my legs crossed on the couch, waiting for Clove's return from training, I begin to ask myself questions I have never thought about before: What is it about Clove that makes her irresistible? Why am I prepared to let myself die to save her? Why am I acting flirty around Glimmer to make Clove jealous? All of a sudden, the door opens, interrupting my thoughts. It's Clove, with her hair tied back in her trademark bubble-tail.

"Hey," I whisper. She eyes me suspiciously before asking in a curious voice "What was that all about?" I shrug in a quiet way, and it's not a lie. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Clove stands hesitantly for a few seconds. Getting annoyed at her, I say "You know I don't bite. You don't have to stand 3 metres away from me." She laughs and throws herself down onto the sofa, and inches up next to me. She starts sticking her head in my face to try and get me to look at her. I keep turning my head from her, but in the end it gets unbearable, and I let out a snorting laugh as I try to grab her back. I hug her in close to me and gently kiss her. She breaks away after a while and starts to run her fingers through my blonde hair.

"So… You want to tell me now?" Clove asks. I sigh, because I _do _want to tell her, but then I have to tell her how I'm hanging out with Glimmer to make her jealous.

"Look, I got mad. Just, Glimmer and Marvel are pretty annoying."

Clove drops her head, and a strand of hair covers her eyes. "I saw you with Glimmer," she whispers. "Was that because of me, or her, or the games…" Her voice begins to trail off. There is real pain in it, and it's truly hurtful. I turn my face away from hers, because I can't stand to know the hushed painful voice is coming from her lips.

"Cato?"

I allow myself to turn back for a few seconds to find she's rapidly fiddling with the tassels on a velvet cushion and biting her lip. I see a small tear roll down her face as her pupils become distorted behind the sheet of water covering them. I manage to bring myself to wipe the tear from her cheek, but almost immediately, more spill over. She mouths a few simple words

_Tell me._

After taking a deep breath, I choke out in a rasping voice, "It's to make her look… weak, and myself strong by acting cocky and slightly indifferent." Clove eyes me, but I can tell by the look on her face that she doesn't believe me. "Because Jayo said make our love invisible, and tell no one. So I thought maybe if I loved Glimmer…"

"But Cato, he said to hide it because love makes you look weak! Not just that loving _me_ will make you a target!" Cloves voice has risen to an angry cry as tears roll down her face, one after the other.

"But my love that I'm acting out for Glimmer is different from ours! The boy I play for Glimmer is cocky, strong, flirty and a total player! The boy I am for you is… me!" I can feel my own tears coming, but I don't want to cry. I'm supposed to be Cloves strong hero; I can't let my pain show as she is trying to get rid of her own. She opens her mouth to say something, but then gets off the couch.

"Fine," she says with a sigh. I raise my eyebrows as she lifts her shoulders and tries to look as if she doesn't care.

"So now you know, you're okay with it?" I ask, and hold my breath as I wait for an answer. Clove thinks for a moment, takes one long, deep breath and says "I'm okay with it. Just remember you're promise Cato; Don't forget me." After that, she walks out of the room, without saying another word. Her sentence takes my back to that night on the train, when I promised her I wouldn't forget her. Recently, I've been thinking maybe she didn't mean exactly what I thought. But… what else could she have meant? I feel really bad now, about trying to make me jealous. But now, I've got Glimmer on my back, and I don't think I'll be able get rid of her as easily as I lost Denise that day in the stadium. Just as I'm thinking, the door bursts open once again, and I jump a little, because the girl standing in the doorway is Glimmer.

"Glim…" I try to speak, but Glimmer places a finger on her lips to shut me up as she tiptoes up to the couch, making sure she gets a chance to toss about her hair.

"Cato," she whispers. "I needed to talk to you."

_Great_, I think as she sticks out a hand and pulls me up from the sofa.

"Look, I know I'm not allowed in here, but today in the training, I felt… a connection between us." Her face is tilting upwards and close to mine. She's whispering, but she's doing it with so much breath- she's breathing the scent of heavy perfume into my face.

"A strong one at that too-" Glimmer suddenly whips around, because we both hear someone coming up. With one more flick of her hair, she skips out of the door and goes the opposite way to Magix, who's coming up the stairs.

"Ah, hello Cato!" Magix says with a little too much enthusiasm. I ignore her, because I'm just _so_ annoyed at Glimmer, for invading my private conversation with Clove to come tell me she loves me- no, that we have a 'connection.' For all I know, she could have been listening outside the door.

"Cato?" Magix makes constant attempts to get my attention, but I ignore every one. Eventually, she decides to leave me to my thoughts, and leaves in a huff. Great, that's _two _ people I've made mad today.


	19. Chapter 19

For the rest of the day, I kind of just lounge around in our living area. I watch all the tributes videos from past years, and some of the interviews. Most years, they discuss whether they think District 1 or 2 is going to win. But no. All anyone can talk about is the District 12 tributes costumes. My mind flicks back to the girl's rose and the kiss she blew, and I shudder a little. But just wait. When we get in that arena, there are no rules. I'm going to make them pay for it. They will suffer, I can promise that. That night, as I'm going up to my room, I find Clove walking to hers as well. "Hey Clove," I yawn. "You coming in?" I gesture to my room. But Clove shakes her head and carries on down the hall. "Clove?" I call after her. She ignores me as she disappears through her door. Giving a small huff, I kick my feet a little and step back into my room. I slam the door as loud as I possibly can, so she can hear my anger. Clove was the one who originally said we weren't allowed to have a relationship, so I tried to carry out her idea by flirting with Glimmer. And she rewards me with what- ignorance? All I want to do is scream at Glimmer, because if it weren't for her, Clove would be lying here with me tonight, holding me close. For all we know, these few days could be our last chance to do that, because only one of us gets out of the arena, and of course we can't cuddle in the arena days to come. Because I have to spend those days with Glimmer as my shadow now. Maybe I could just kill her when we get in there. But what would Marvel say? He could lash out at me, and protect Glimmer. Surely he must know I could easily overpower him. Giving one more sigh, I calmly walk to the door and open it. I creep down the hallway, not wanting to be seen, and gently tap on Cloves door. "Clove," I whisper. "It's me, Cato." No response.  
>"Clove, I'll tell you the real reason I was with Glimmer today if you just open the door." I hear one or two shaky footsteps inside the door, but they stop after a while. "Clove, come on. Open the door, and I can explain what's going on."<br>"Why should I Cato? All you've done is act like a jerk today, and I don't want to talk to you." Cloves voice sounds like a little kids 'I'm telling' voice, and I have to laugh a little. "Okay, if you're not letting me in, then I'll tell you from out here. Look, I guess I was a little annoyed at you for going ahead and making us have a hate relationship, and telling Jayo that we didn't even know each other without even asking me. I was sort of with Glimmer to make you jealous I guess... But I was wrong. I love you and it's not fair to do that to you, because all you were doing is trying to protect us." There's silence for a while, but I hear a faint sigh from Clove, and she eventually says "But Cato you can't do that. Look, we both know you've been acting like an idiot lately- volunteering, telling Jayo we've mastered stuff, flirting with Glimmer, ignoring ME. But I forgive you. I guess now you've got Glimmer on your back, and that's your problem now." Clove seems to be standing right next to the door now, because her voice is a lot closer. "So you're okay with it now? Definitely?"  
>"Definitely," Clove whispers in response. "Are you going to let me in now?" I smile a little at myself, because she can't see it. But that's about to change, because Clove opens the door, and grabs my hand. She's running down the hall, still with a firm grip of my hand in hers. I can hear her laughing, and I laugh a little too because I have no idea what's going on at all, and I'm sort of just following her lead. "Clove, what are you doing," I say with what's supposed to be a quiet laugh, but ends up being a pretty loud snort. It's funny, because not many people know about this. I can easily put on a deep, manly laugh, but I guess my real one is basically, well, a snorting one! Clove told me one day that she thinks it's really cute, but I know she definitely finds it one hundred times more funny than adorable. Her laugh gets louder, and I'm afraid that someone will hear it, but we manage to get to the living area for all the tributes without encountering anyone. Theres no one around, and I think Clove wants to spend the night down here. The moment a capitol attendant walks past, I ask him for some hot cocoa, and Clove decides to be cheeky and asks for cookies too. "Uh, okay sure. Cookies too. Lots of them." Clove is sniggering and I am too. We both look like two immature kids, and my mind suddenly flicks back to Xander and Callum, so I stop laughing. The Capitol attendant nods with a confused expression and disappears into the distance. "Clove, is this a good idea? Like, you know, staying down here. Any of the tributes are allowed in here, and if they see us sleeping here they'll know that we're in love, and boom! We're dead in the arena." Instead of acting all serious, Clove tries to replicate my laugh. But she fails, and just sounds like she's choking. So many people take one look at Clove, and assume she's quiet and hostile with no sense of humour. But she's not, when she's with people she actually likes. We're both surprised when the Capitol attendant returns with 2 cups of steaming cocoa, and 3 plates piled high with homemade cookies. "Thanks very much," I say all serious-like, and Clove gives a happy nod and says "What- that's all the cookies you have?" I punch her arm and she laughs, while I stifle a giggle. I actually see the Capitol attendant roll his eyes at us, and leave the room. Clove and I snuggle up on the sofa with blankets, cushions, and cocoa and cookies. I don't actually think we finish them all- only the 1st plate and a little of the second. We fall asleep there, me first actually. I sleep well, knowing that Clove isn't mad at me anymore, and I think she does too. It makes me realise how much happier I am when I'm with her<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

When I open my eyes the next morning, light pours into them and loud shouting attacks my eardrums. "Well finally! You should be able to help us with this!" I look up to see a blurry, distorted mash of colours, but my eyes slowly focus and I see a freakish Capitol lady that looks somewhat like Magix. "W-w-what?" I mumble in a scratchy, sleepy voice. "Do you think bubbles will be the new feathers this month?" Asks another pink and green lady. It's a little hard to see, because everything is so bright and colourful. I shrug and groan a little as I turn over and shove my face into the back of the sofa as I try to go back to sleep. But the women keep shouting and arguing, and it's impossible to sleep again. Clove is doing her usual heavy sleeper act, and refusing to be woken up by the loudest of noises. "LOOK! NO ONE CARES," I yell, and it's pretty hard because I'm still so tired and it's difficult to raise my voice. Clove stirs a little at my voice, and opens her eyes. She narrows her eyes in disgust at the three women. My eyes are more focused now, and I can make out Magix and two other clowns. But she gives a huff and goes back to sleep afterwards. "How long have you even been arguing about this?" I say. Magix looks at her watch, and then says "30 minutes," without changing the annoyed expression on her face. What is wrong with these idiots? Arguing for half an hour over some stupid fashion statement. I grab Cloves arm and pull her off the sofa with me. She decides to be difficult and hold on to the sofa, but I eventually overpower her and pull her away. We slump back up to our apartment to get ready for the days training, and we hear the argument start up again. Before we get down to the hall, we go upstairs and pick out one of the training outfits. We end up late for training, and everyone stares at us. But I only put on my 'deal with it' look. Clove rolls her eyes as everyone stares at her and goes and stands next to the girl from District 4. "Okay, so now that we're all here," the trainer says with a slightly exasperated sigh. "We can get started on the days training. Today is the last day, because tomorrow you have you're private sessions with the game makers. I suggest none of you work on the strengths you want to show them, but today you should concentrate on the things you know you are weak at." Everyone starts heading off to some different stations. More of the strange ones are occupied today, like the weaponry building and the camouflage one. But I work with Marvel for today at the spear station. Glimmer is acting all friendly and bubbly towards Clove, who doesn't have the same approach towards her as me. Clove is trying to show off with her knives, and succeeding, while Glimmer just looks like she's wandering around in circles, blabbing about something that Clove's not even listening to. "So, that Clove girl is 'all right' at knives?" Marvel nudges me, and it actually hurts a bit. "Yeah, I guess she's okay," I say with a shrug. "Are you kidding Cato?" Marvel's eyes grow wide and shocked. "She's absolutely amazing! Look at her Cato! SO much more talent than Glimmer! Do you just, not like her or something?" I shrug a little. It's not conversation I really want to bring up. I don't want to talk about Clove, or give Marvel the wrong idea, because he might think I hate Clove totally, and then try to do me a favour and kill her. And if he does that, he won't be doing anyone any favours. Marvel seems to get the drift, and he nods a little with a knowing smile. Maybe he caught the blush as I looked away at the mention of Cloves name. Jayo said he didn't look very smart, but I have the feeling he can work some things out with only the tiniest piece of information. Marvel throws a spear at the target about 30 metres away, and it actually hits it right in the middle. It looks like Jayo was right about him being strong! We turn our heads a little bit to see how Clove and Glimmer are getting on, and Glimmer has left Clove by herself to keep training with her knives, while she goes and shoots a couple of arrows.

Marvel teaches me a little about the spears, because even though I'm good at them he's even better. After that, we train hard because we know the private sessions with the game makers are coming up in a few hours. With a quick pat on the back from Jayo, and a nod from Perrie, Clove and I are sent to the waiting room to wait for our turn with the game makers. Marvel goes in first, and Glimmer winks at me from across the room. The tiny girl from 11 is staring at me coldly, so I make sure I glare back at her. This gets the attention of the monstrous male tribute from District 11, who shoots me a look of disgust. The girl from District 12 is sitting next to the boy with the ashy blonde hair, who's presumably from the same District. I notice it because they seem to have been incredibly close lately; eating lunch together, laughing, talking, smiling. Are they… together? No, of course not. If they were, they wouldn't have shown it, because it would bring a weakness to them. They're probably just really good friends. I hope.

The time flies by, and Glimmer is strutting out of the hall, a smile on her lips and a sway in her hips.

"Cato Hadley, District 2. Please enter the training hall."

Okay. This is it. Just treat it like one of your exams back in 2. It's fine Cato, it's fine.  
>Clove gives me a smile and a quick nudge on my arm before I enter the hall, feeling terrified. As I Walk in, people examine me and appear to be impressed by nodding and smiling.<p>

"Cato Hadley, from District 2?" One of them asks.

"Uh, yeah that's me," I say with a sly grin.

"Very good. Please begin."

Oh my goodness! What do I do? Oh no, oh no, oh no, I haven't worked this out. No! No! No!

_Don't blow this Cato… This is you're one and only shot at this._

Right… Okay, just keep calm. I walk over to the swords, and hold two of them in my shaking hands. My eyes lock on a target a few metres away, and I burst into action. I twirl the swords, and throw one of them across the hall, and the other one is plunged into a dummy. They both hit their targets, but is it enough? Enough for Cato the career? No, I have to do more. Spears! I grab some spears and leap into the air, performing a backflip as the spears leave my hands and soar across the hall, before plummeting into a few more targets. I smile up at the game makers and raise my eyebrows, as they nod and tell me I can go. I leave the hall with fears of not achieving a high score rushing through my head.


	21. Chapter 21

Clove is nestled up against me on the sofa, as Perrie, Jayo and Magix are silently sitting on the other one. They appear to be completely convinced that Clove and I are going to get high scores, but I'm not even sure if I did enough. After all, my performance was a lot easier said than done, and I have to admit, it sounded pretty amazing when I told them about it. I huff a little, but I suddenly yelp in surprise as Caeser Flickerman appears on the screen before me. Perrie starts shushing everyone, and Jayo leans forward as he listens closely.

Please... Please let me get a high score...

I am so nervous that I don't even listen to Glimmer and Marvel's scores, but they can't be that great because no one makes that much of a fuss over them.

"Cato Hadley,"

My teeth are on edge, and I'm shaking all over.

"With a score of,"

Please, please, please, just let me get a good score. Or an okay score. Just not a bad one.

"10! Yes, that is a 10 for Cato Hadley."

A 10? I give a sigh of relief, and I can tell everyone else does too. It's nothing to get worked up over, but we can make do with a 10. "Next up, Clove Sevina!" Clove lifts her head from my shoulder and narrows her eyes at the screen, as if she's concentrating hard.

"Clove, with another score of 10! Things are looking good so far!"

Clove smiles and sighs. Of course, neither of us was expecting a 12 or something stupid, but I think we are both satisfied enough with a 10. No one else gets a surprising score; the small girl from District eleven pulls a 7 somehow, and the boy gets a 10. We are happy by the time it gets to the District 12 tributes; Clove and I aren't paying too much attention. The boy's name turns out to be Peeta, and he pulls an 8. Not bad. Finally, the girl, Katniss Everdeen, is shown on the screen. All of a sudden, an 11 is flashing in our faces before the screen switches off. NO! She couldn't have! What could she have possibly done to get such a high score? Clove appears to be pretty annoyed too, but in my mind I am actually planning out a long, slow, painful death for that girl. She's crossed me one too many times. Jayo shakes his head at the now black screen, and Magix lets out a little squeaking noise. "Well that complicates things," Perrie sighs. Clove looks at her with an angry expression. "What could she have done to get an 11? I mean, she's from 12 and she has no talent with weapons what so ever! Do you think it was a mistake?"

"The game makers don't make mistakes, Clove," Magix sighs, as she presses her fingers against her temples.

"Magix is right, Clove. I don't know why they gave her such a high score, but I do know that you mustn't get yourselves worked up over it. They may have scored her like that to make her a target for you careers, so let's pretend like it doesn't matter for a while. I promise, if you're angry, you will get revenge on her. Now get out of here. That girls score has made me very disappointed in you two. The way we interpret her score is different to how the Capitol will. Just go have dinner, go train a little more, or even go to bed or something. I don't really care, as long as you get out of my sight." Jayo sort of flicked me, as if to shoo us out of the room. Clove drags me upstairs, and slams the door behind us. "I want Peeta," she says.

"Peeta? The District 12 boy?"

"Yes, him. He can help us get Katniss, he knows her pretty well."

"Clove, he might not accept." I have to admit, it's a pretty good idea, but I can't guarantee that he'll say yes.

"Cato!" Clove leans forward and slaps my cheek. Hard. "Of course he'll say yes, we're careers!"

"Clove, was that really necessary?" I snap at her, as I rub my still hurting cheek. "It was. I needed to bring you to your senses. By the way, on the topic of allies, I want the boy from 3. He's great with explosives, right? Well I have an idea. The mines around the pedestals, you know those? Well, what if he could reactivate the mines, and bury them around our supplies?"

"And if he couldn't?"

"Then we kill him Cato!" Clove shouts, clearly getting annoyed.

"Okay, fine," I say with a huff. "We'll ask for 3."

"And 11," Clove says.

"Clove, why 11? D'you mean the little girl?"

"NO CATO!" Clove's hand cracks across my cheek. "God, you're so slow today."

"Clove, I'm stressed and tired. I know you are too, but don't take it out on me."

"Shut up Cato, I'm not stressed. Leave me alone. I'M NOT STRESSED!" I stare at her for a few seconds, and she glares at me icily. But eventually, we start laughing at each other suddenly, because we're both so boiling mad and exhausted, there's not any good reasons to stay angry at each other. "I'm sorry I hit you," Clove says as she looks at the ground, clearly feeling guilty.

"It's fine. But, you have to tell me you love me to make up for it." I grab her and pull her close. Clove starts trying to wriggle free and laughs, as I try to hold her.

"Noo, I won't Cato," she giggles.

"Well fine. I'll have to settle for the next best thing then." I lean in to her and kiss her, and she kisses back and wraps her arms around my neck. I can feel her smile through the kiss, and she is still smiling when we break away. "Okay Cato, you win. I love you, I love you, I love you. Are you happy now?"

"Very," I say with a grin. "Come on, we have to tell Jayo to put through our requests." Clove leads us downstairs and Jayo huffs at us. "Well, this better be good! I thought I told you two to get out of here?"

"Wait, we have something to tell you. We want to put in some requests for allies," Clove interrupts.

"What? But, you're the careers, you're only supposed to be with District 1!" Perrie exclaims.

Clove spits at her. "Well, we want other people too. That's the boy's from 11, 3, and 12. The boy from 3 is good with explosives, and we have a plan for that. 11 is strong, and 12- well we want him to get to Katniss."

"No!" Jayo shouts as he slams his fist on the table. "You cannot have 12. I told you not to get involved with this!"

"I don't care!" Clove yells back. "We can do what we like in the arena, and I want 3, 11 and 12!" Jayo opens his mouth to scream something nasty back, but he just sighs again and waves the argument off, as if he's giving in. "Fine," Jayo sighs. "You can have them. But it's not my fault if you end up dying!" Yes! He's actually going to ask them! Jayo gets up and leaves the table, presumably to put through our requests. Clove nudges my arm and laughs. "Well, we convinced him at least. D'you think they'll say yes?"

"Clove!" I shout, mimicking her tone from earlier. "Of course they'll say yes, we're careers!"

Clove thinks for a moment, but then laughs at me.

"Let's hope they will."

We go up to my room, and order some food from the large menu. After a quick snack, we fall asleep, together again, with thoughts rushing through our heads of what the tributes will say to our requests.


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning at breakfast, Jayo is absent and Clove and I start to get suspicous. After about halfway through breakfast, I've eaten at least 8 of the thick, fluffy pancakes, each one drenched in the maple syrup provided. Just as I'm digging into what I've told myself must be my last one, Jayo bursts into the room, and slides into his seat.  
>"I have good news," he starts, eyeing the pancakes on my plate.<br>"What is it?" Clove asks, with a mouth stuffed full of bacon and eggs.  
>"Well, I've spoken to the mentors of the tributes you wanted, and believe me, Haymitch was the hardest, and all said yes but one. It looks like you've got Ian from District 3, and Peeta from District 2. Have fun making friends." Jayo gives in and starts piling his plate high with eggs, bacon, and chips.<br>"What?" Says Clove in shock. "Thresh said no? But... We're careers! He could do great with us, he could rule the arena!"  
>"Well, he didn't want that," Jayo says with a shrug, his mouth now full. "I think he wants to go at this solo. So now you've got the wimpy, weedy boys from 3 and 12. Good luck."<br>"Not the boy from 12," I interupt. "He's really strong. Not tough, but strong. I remember one day he fell off the climbing rope, and then when we all laughed, Fire Girl came up to him and whispered something, so he threw a 100 pound metal ball across the hall." Jayo gives me a thumbs up, swallows his food and belches. "That's great. Looks like you know how to pick 'em Cato." We finish breakfast, and make friendly chit-chat together. Clove still avoids Perrie, and whenever she starts talking, Clove changes the subject and directs the conversation over to someone else. We finish all the food, so we end up ordering a load of waffles and french toast. By the time we do finish the meal, everyone is about to burst. I was so nervous this morning, because of the ally requests, and the interviews today that I woke up absaloutely starving, and I just ended up eating and eating and eating. When we're done, Clove dissapears with Perrie to do her interview prep, and Jayo leads me out of the room to proceed with mine. We go up to my room, and Jayo sits and stares at me. "Well?"  
>I raise my eyebrows a little at him. "What?"<br>"You are going with your arrogant approach, right?"  
>"Yeah, sure," I say, paying little attention to him.<br>"Okay, so how about we pretend I'm Caesar and I'm going to interview you?" Jayo doesn't even wait for an answer, and suddenly he's announcing my name like Caesar would do, and he welcomes me to, well, my room. "So Cato, you're from District 2, correct?"  
>"Yes, Caesar," I say, with emphasise on the 'Caesar'. He shoots me a dirty look, and carries on with the interview.<p>

Jayo asks me about District 2, and all my friends there. In the end, he knows all about Griffin, Knight, Mandy, Denise, Xander and Callum. He knows about how Denise thought I loved her when I didn't. How Mandy had a crush on me. How Xander and Callum were litterally the most hillarious people I knew. I hesitate to tell him about Griffin, but I decide in the end that because this isn't the real interview, and Caesar would never ask me these kind of questions in the first place, that I should tell him. After a while, I realise that Jayo is genuinley interested in my life, and it's not for the purpose of training anymore. He actually asks me about my back story with Clove, and he knows it's a long shot and I might not tell him, but if he knows about everything else then he should know about Clove.  
>"Okay," I begin."It was one day when I was training in my Academy, 2nd Academy, that I saw her. I detested her, and she would throw knives around, even at the age of 12. And I was jealous. Jealous that she had the courage to get up there and practice what she was good at, without waiting for anyone elses approval. I was jealous of the bravery that I never had. So I convinced myself and Griffin to hate her. But then there came the day that we were put into partners for training, and of course I got Clove. I got really annoyed, because Griffin was with Knight, the most popular and eadly boy in our year. So Griffin ended up on the combat team, and I was stuck with Clove. But we eventually became friends, and one day I just couldn't keep it in anymore and I had to tell her I loved her. So I did. And then, I promised Clove I would never volunteer, but her name was picked at the reaping and I just had to, Jayo. I had to make sure she got out alive."<br>Jayo sighs a little, and places a friendly hand on my shoulder. "My friend, it sounds like you're the one who needs to get out alive. You have friends back at home, and Clove doesn't have anyone really."  
>"No," I choke out, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. "Clove and I need to get out together, or not at all."<br>And my decision is final. I've thought about it recently, and I've decided I can't live without Clove, and she can't live without me. Jayo gives me a sad smile, and looks at the floor. "Cato, I was almost in exactly the same situation when I was you're age. The year I was sent into the games, I was madly in love with the girl from my District- but I never told her. I just couldn't. I wanted her to be the one who got out. So we teamed up with District 1 and 4, but she fell in love with the boy from 4, and that was that. There was nothing I could do to stop it. But then, when the girls from 1 and 4 had died, we all decided that it was her who would had to win. We spent the last few days in the arena proctecting her, killing off the boy from District 1 in the process. After the boy from 4 was killed in a wildfire, all of our food was wiped out. It was the final day, and we were dying from starvation. She... She didn't make it. She died quietly in the night, but just before she went, she grabbed my arm and said that she loved me." Jayo has to wipe his eyes a little. "That's why I want you guys to win, but I want you to spend all the time you have together as well."  
>"But we can't have both," I whisper, looking at the floor. Jayo sniffs and nods at me. "Yeah, that's right. Cato, I want you to make sure you do well at this interview. I haven't really helped you at all, but I don't want you to act at all like you have today with me." Jayo shakes my shoulders a little. "Don't mess this up, Cato. You just can't afford it. Okay?" I nod. "Good. I know you can win this, so I want you to do just that." No. It's Clove who's winning this time. Not me, not Glimmer or Marvel or Katniss.<p>

_Clove._


	23. Chapter 23

Later on, I'm sitting about with Mercury-Angel, in a casual, black, leather suit. My hair is spiked up with gel, and it wasn't easy to do that. It's so naturally thick that it will sit in the way it wants to sit, and won't change. But of course, in the magical land of the Capitol and it's stylists, anything is possible.  
>"Now Cato, you know you cannot mess this interview up, right?" She says with a serious tone.<br>I grin at her. "Relax, I've got this covered. Jayo and I were talking about it for ages earlier."  
>"I hope so Cato. You seem so casual about this; you're not worried are you?"<br>No. I'm terrified!  
>"Nah, I know what to do. I've been doing this my whole life." I flex my muscles a little. Am I hitting on her?<br>"Hmm, I'm sure you have." Mercury-Angel doesn't seem to be wooed at all, and then it hits me. She must have to deal with boys like me every year! Of course, I don't 'like' her or anything stupid, I'm just using her to practice how I need to act for both Glimmer and The Capitol.

We both sit in silence, until we are called to go out on the stage. A guy in a headset makes everyone line up, from District 1 to 12; girls then boys. Clove is looking gorgeous as always in a short, coral dress that is layered near the bottom to poof it out. Her hair is in a half up-half down style, and it's bumped up at the top. And it's all completed with a pair of bright white shoes.  
>"Doesn't someone look beautiful," I say with a grin. Clove scowls at me and replies with a stubborn "Shut up Cato." I sigh at her, because I know Hanna must have gotten on her nerves again. Glimmer peeks behind Marvel, who's in a vivid blue suit. "Oh hi Cato!" Glimmer chirps, as I notice her heavily made-up face. I turn round a little and notice all the boys are staring at her, and no wonder. She's dressed in a flowing, see-through golden gown that really shows off her (as much as I hate her) sexy figure. Her blonde curls are loose, and have been curled even more to exagerate them, and she's wearing what looks like a stupidly high pair of gold heels. "What's up, Glimmer," I say back with a grin.<br>"Are you excited for the interview?"  
>"Sure," I sigh with a shrug. Glimmer notices Clove staring in disgust, so she glares back. "Whats the matter Clove?" Glimmer makes a stupid pouty face at her. "Jealous of all this? Aww, it's not you're fault you're so ugly. Maybe you should just avoid boys all together, and stick to throwing knives about."<br>What did she just say? No, she wouldn't! I glance over to Clove, who looks INFURIATED, and I think I see a few tears in her eyes. I clench my hands into fists, and start digging into my hands with my nails. "Don't, ever insult Clove," I growl at her.  
>Glimmer raises an eyebrow at me, and says "What?"<br>"You heard me. Don't insult Clove, you bitch!"  
>"What? But I-"<br>"No, Glimmer. No buts. No ifs. You hurt Clove, I hurt you. It's as simple as that." I give her the death stare, and she opens her mouth to say something, but she's already being called on stage. I make sure I give her a little wave with a smile as she dissapears. Marvel was totally oblivious as to what just happened, and Clove is still standing in shock. All I want to do is hug her, and tell her she's the most beautiful girl in the world, but there's other tributes around, so the least I can do is smile and say through gritted teeth "Don't listen to Glimmer." She nods a little, but she doesn't smile as she watches the bimbo blonde girl on the screen. Glimmer's face might as well have been on a target, having knives thrown at it by an angry Clove because of the way she was looking at her. When Glimmer comes off the stage, she spits at Clove as she goes off to meet with her mentors. Marvel dissapears, and I'm not paying a huge amount of attention. Before I know it, he's coming off and Clove's going in. Caesar welcomes her with a smile, and begins by asking her what her talents are. Clove starts talking about knives, and how she could throw them since she was 3. That's immpressive! While they talk, I get hit with a strike of panic as I desprately think of what to say. In my mind, I start telling myself who I am- for the games at least.

_I'm Cato Hadley. I'm 16 years old. I'm arrogant. I'm cocky. I'm very full of myself. I think Glimmer is the best girl in the world, and I really l-l-love her. Clove is my enemy; I don't know much about her. I am deadly, I am vicious, I am talented with swords and spears. I am-_

Going on stage right now! My name has been called, and the dude in the headset is guiding me on stage, and suddenly the whole of The Capitol is staring and cheering. Ahh! I can't do this! But I guess I have to, because I'm already in my seat.

Right, remember everything that you've been told Cato. Don't mess this up.

"So Cato, you are from District 2, correct?"

Exactly what Jayo said to me. I can do this.

"Correct, Caesar."  
>"Very good! So, I'm going to have to kick off the interview by asking you the question I know every girl in the audience is wondering. Is there a special girl for you?"<br>I answer the question in my mind:  
><em>Of course. She's the most beautiful girl in the world, and I love her more than life itself. I've known her forever, and everytime I look at her I fall in love with her all over again. Every time we hug I feel like I don't ever want to let go. Everytime we kiss, I feel a fire in my chest that I want to burn forever, and never be extinguished.<em>  
>And then, I have to give Caesar my answer. "Quite a few, actually." Caesar bursts out laughing, and so does the whole audience. Perfect. "Well, Mr. Hadley. It looks like we have a ladies man on our hands!"<br>"I guess you could say that," I say as I cross my arms, flexing my muscles for the audience of course.  
>"And Cato, do you think you can win these games?"<br>"Oh please," I say with an arrogant 'pshh'. "I could win them with my eyes closed." The audience starts laughing all over again, and then breaks into a round of applause. I've got them right where I want them. Caesar makes light conversation, and he asks me things like 'what is your talent' and 'how are you finding The Capitol' It's all very boring, and very casual. Nothing personal, or actually INTERESTING. The bell rings eventually, and I know it's time to go. Caesar shakes my hand, and holds it up in the air as he says my name one last time. So, it's time to go, and I think I've done pretty well. Oh, I hope Jayo thinks so too.

I meet up with Clove after the interview, and I start to talk to her, but she throws her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. I'm a little startled, but I kiss back because I was thinking about this for the entire interview. When Clove pulls away, I suddenly burst into speech. "Clove, don't listen to Glimmer. You're beautiful, don't let anybody tell you different. Glimmer likes me, and she's actually jealous of you. Please, don't let her get to you."  
>"No, it's fine Cato. She just really annoys me with her nerve to insult me like that, when she knows I'm a thousand times as deadly as her and could kill her in a flash. And yet, she still does it." Clove sighs, and I do the same. It takes me a moment to realise how much Glimmer must have hurt her recently. I have to admit, she's annoying and way too perky, but seeing me flirting and hanging round with Glimmer must have been really painful for her. I love her, she loves me. It's not fair on her. Maybe I should break the news to Glimmer, that I just don't like her. I guess she's kind of pretty, but she's too fake and bubbly for me.<br>Clove looks at me for a second, and I notice unshed tears in her eyes. Clove looks at the ground, and the droplets drip onto the floor. Why does it have to be like this? Why does our relationship have to be so hard? With Knight, Griffin, Mandy and Denise, Diamond and Dean, my dad, the games, and now Glimmer. I mean, some people just have it all. They start dating, they live a perfect life together, he proposes, they have children...  
>And suddenly, I remember something, and I have an idea. I have to get back to our apartement, but I also have to stay and listen to the rest of the interviews. I glance up at the screen, and watch as the silly little girl from 12 twirls about in a dress that gives off little flames. But I don't care. All I can think about is what I'm going to do later so me and Clove can make the most of our time together before we... Well, I don't want to think about that. Here we go, the final interview. It's Peeta, the boy from 12 thats going to be on the career team. He seems okay so far, and he makes small talk with Caesar about his experiences in the Capitol. But he grabs my attention with his next question.<p>

"Is there a special girl back home?"

Peeta says yes, and when Caesar says that he can win her over if he wins and goes home, Peeta says something unexpected.

"She came here with me."

... No! Wait, I was right. They are an item! Okay, so it feels nice and all to be right, but I can tell it's fake. Of course he doesn't love her! It angers me when Caesar calls them the 'Star-crossed lovers,' because theres only room for one pair of star crossed lovers in The Hunger Games, and that's Clove and I. Okay, I don't need to worry about that because I have something else to think about.

Magix, Perrie and Jayo rush over to us, and start telling us how fabulous we were, but I don't have time for that. I run into the elevator, and get stuck with the tributes from 5. I glare at them, and they look absaloutely terrified, like I'm going to kill them here, in the elevator. When we get to my stop, I leap out, and into my room. Immediatly, I start rummaging through the small inside pocket in my coat. I know I brought it, because I've always had it inside my coat, just waiting until I had the courage to give it to Clove. There it is! My fingers enclose around something, and I know exactly what it is. Now I just have to be brave and ask her.  
>I rush downstairs to try to find Clove, and sure enough she's getting a snack. And she's alone too. It would be immpossible to do this with our Mentors around. She hasn't noticed me yet, so I creep up behind her and cover her eyes with my hands. Clove jumps a little, but I can sense her smile as she places her hands on her hips.<br>"Guess who?" I laugh.  
>"Well it's definitely not Cato," she chuckles.<br>I spin her round so she's facing me, and I take my hands away from her face, revealing a large pair of green eyes, framed by long, thick, dark lashes. I lean in to kiss her, and Clove meets me halfway. As we kiss, I try to decide how on Earth I'm going to do this.

Come on Cato. You've done stuff so much harder than this.

"Clove?" I whisper when we break away.  
>"Yeah Cato?"<br>I take a really deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"  
>Clove nods, and smiles, obviously thinking what I'm going to say is not nearly as serious as it actually is.<br>"Uh, Okay. Look, Clove, I've loved you forever. You are my girl, my world, my everything. And, oh how do I say this, I know we've got the games coming up tommorow, but I really need to ask you this." I stick my hand in my pocket and tightly grip the small box inside. "Okay, here goes."  
>I really slowly start to get down on one knee.<br>_Maybe this isn't such a good idea._  
>I take out the box.<br>_Maybe she'll say no?_  
>Very hesitantly, I open the box in my shaking hands, to reveal a diamond ring.<br>"Clove, I don't know if we'll both survive this, but I know my life will never really be complete if I never ask you this.  
>My beautiful Clove, will you marry me?"<p>

Cloves reaction is beyond words. She gasps in shock, and her cheeks burn red. "Cato... Oh my God Cato. Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!" Clove starts to feel all giddy, and she starts laughing and giggling. I join in, and slip the ring onto her finger, and for a moment I feel like I can actually keep her. Forever.

In the moment, Jayo bursts into the room, while I'm in the middle of putting the ring on.  
>"What the-"<br>Jayo looks a little shocked, and I know I'm dead. But he actually surprises us, and winks at me before leaving to room, and telling Magix and Perrie not to come in. Magix starts crying tears of joy when she realises what's going on, and Perrie sighs and leaves.

I don't know if Clove and I will leave that arena at all, because it's one or none at all. I don't know if we'll ever actually get married, but I do know that as long as she's wearing that diamond, she's mine, and thats all I need.


	24. Chapter 24

Jayo takes my hand in his.

_Today is the day... The day we go into the arena, and don't neccasarily come out._

"Cato, we've talked about this. I'm going to leave it up to you to decide what you want to do about Clove, but I do want you to make sure District 2 has a winner this year." Jayo doesn't smile at me, or even move. He just sits there, still grasping my hand.

Why am I so scared about this...? I've been training for my entire life. Every single day I've practiced battles, weaponry and ways to keep myself alive. But I'm not scared for the games. I'm scared for Clove. Because I haven't even made up my mind as to how I can do this. I know I say I have to get Clove out alive because I can't live without her, but is that selfish? What if she can't live without me, and I send her back to do what I knew I could never face myself?

So maybe... we could BOTH...

I was daydreaming so much that I didn't even realise that we were being rushed onto a hovercraft and into our seats. Everyone looks shattered, and terrified for the days to come, especially all the smaller kids. Ian and Peeta look in good enough shape, and Clove is purpously looking deadly by glaring at anyone who even looks at her. Glimmer's hair is done in two cutesy fishtailbraids, and she's giggling and chatting to Marvel, who looks as though he couldn't care less about anything that's going on right now.

"Cato, it's time."

Already? Mercury-Angel is sitting with me in the waiting area. We've been dressed in pretty much hunting gear, and I don't have a token to take into the arena. It's not a neccesity to have one, but lots of people choose to. I know Cloves token is her ring, and words cannot begin to describe how proud I was when Clove said she was using it as her token.

But I'm about to go into the arena, because according to Mercury-Angel 'it's time.'

I turn to look at the tube I have to get inside in exactly 1 minute, and Mercury-Angel takes my hand.

"Hanna saw a diamond on her finger," she whispers. "And it wasn't there yesterday."

Please, don't remind me of that. I don't regret it, but isn't it only setting ourselves up for failure when we both know a wedding will never happen? Or maybe our trusty 'Star Crossed Lovers' will have one of their own in the arena as well.  
>But they can't, because Peeta's with us. He wouldn't dare betray the careers, because it's not every day the tributes from the usually ignored Districts are invited to join us.<p>

"I believe in you Cato," she says, gripping my hand. "You can do this."

I hope so. Before I know it, it's time to go, and the games are about to start.

Here we go...

I slowly step inside the tube, and alost immmediatly the doors snap shut, and I start moving up, like a see through elevator. Mercury-Angel gives me one last wave good-bye as I'm lifted into a forest-like arena. Well, at least it's not one of those glacial wastelands or deserts. I can work with this.

The countdown begins.

I'm 10 seconds in, and everyone is looking either petrified or 100% prepared. Glimmer is leaning forward, like she can't wait for the gong to ring so she can make for the Cornucopia. Clove is to my right, and Marvel still looks half asleep to my left.

20 seconds in and 40 more to go. Peeta looks like he's about to explode he's so nervous, and Katniss is frantically searching the area with her eyes, tying to look for something she can grab without being killed by us.

30 seconds left. I don't know if its just me but from here it looks like Ian is shaking like crazy. Wait...what's that? Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a sword at the very back of the Cornucopia. It's like my favourite one back home- only a thousand times as lethal, deadly, and inhumane. It has an immaculate, razor sharp blade, and an iron handle that looks like it has a really good grip.

That's it. That's my weapon for the games.

AH! I've wasted another 20 seconds daydreaming and I only have 20 left. Okay, right, I need to make a straight path for the Cornucopia, and just kill anyone who gets in my way. I could do it with my bare hands, but it's safer to use a weapon. I can see a small sword not too far away, maybe about 10 metres, but it would take me off my path to grab it. Well it's not that far, so I think I'm going to have to do it.

5...  
>4...<br>3...  
>2...<br>1...

All of sudden, the gong sounds and people are running like mad. Some people don't even bother to grab any weapons or supplies and just head straight for the forest, hoping to hide in it.

But not me. Not the careers. I actually see a knife that's closer to me, and although I'm much better at using spears and swords I know I need a weapon, so I have to make do.

I start running, full speed at the Cornucopia. No one attacks me, but some kids get in my way, so I slice them with the knife. Clove likes to throw them, but I'm better at using weapons that I keep hold of.

I eventually reach the inside of the Cornucopia, and on the way I found another large sword, and one spear. Just as I'm about to grab the sword, a little kid gets up from the floor. He was obviously hoping to hide out in here, and wait for everyone to be gone so he could get food and weapons. Well that's too bad, because I've already killed him.

Wow, the sword is even more beautiful up close! No time for that though, I have to help my team-mates. I turn round to find that quite a few people have been killed already, and the ones left are Katniss, the boy's from 10 and 4 and the girls from 9 and 7. And of course, Peeta, Ian, Glimmer, Marvel and Clove. I watch as Clove hurls a knife at Katniss, who manages to deflect it with her backpack, and then runs off singing "Thanks for the knife!"

Clove starts screaming curses at her as she dissapears into the forest, but I go up to her and try to calm her down.

"Cato, I am going to kill that girl!"

"Uh, no you're not. Thats my job." I wanted to be the one to kill Katniss.

"No, me! Promise that she can be my kill?"

Oh, no! Why does Clove have to kill her? I huff a little at her and give in. "Fine! As long as you give the audience a good show when you do." Clove gives an evil smile, and goes off to find her next kill. Meanwhile, I can see that Ian has been given the job of guarding all the food and supplies while we all kill off anyone who comes near the Cornucopia. Seems fair. Wait, wheres Peeta? I spot him raking through the supplies, like he's trying to find something. I think he's trying to avoid killing anyone- he doesn't seem like a very lethal boy.

When all of the tributes are either dead, or hidden in the forest, we decide to start carrying out Cloves plan of how we can protect our supplies.

"So, Clove, what's the plan?"

Clove grins at me. "Well, my idea was that we could pile up the supplies, and maybe put them in some sort of pyramid, and then Ian could dig up the mines around the pedestals, reactivate them, and bury them around the pyramid. Can you do that Ian?"

Ian starts nodding like mad, and then starts talking as fast as possible. "Y-yes Miss. Sevina. I can do that."  
>Clove grins at him. "Miss. Sevina. I could get used to that." But then she looks at her hand with the diamond ring, and I shoot her a wink to say 'you won't have that name for long.'<p>

Thankfully, no one saw the ring because Clove pulled down her sleeve just in time.

Clove then waves him away to tell him to start working on the mines, and calls everyone to help her pile up everything. Peeta tries to follow us, but I stick out a hand to stop him.  
>"Lover boy, you can go help Ian with the mines," I say.<br>Peeta nods, and goes off to help. I don't think he's scared to death of us, but I can tell he just doesn't want any trouble. Fine by me, as long as he leads us to Katniss and stays out of our way.

It turns out we actually have quite a bit of food, medicine and weapons, so we get to build a pretty big pyramid out of everything. By the time we're done, Ian has dug up all the mines, found a way the re-activate them and done so to about three quarters of them. Peeta lights a large, strong fire, and we all eat some of the bread from the food we have. It's not a huge meal, but we have to make do. While me, Glimmer, Clove, Marvel and Peeta eat, Ian buries the mines in a particular pattern around our supplies so that we can get on with the nights hunting.

We're just about to enter the forest. Marvel is armed with a spear, Clove has a knife, Glimmer has a bow and of course, I have my wonderful sword that I've been dying to use since I first saw it. Peeta and Ian don't have any weapons, so I guess they're just tagging along. If I'm totally honest, we don't even need Ian, because he's already sorted the mines. But if we have a problem with them, we can just call him over to fix them.

Okay, here goes. Clove has alinged her jacket with a huge array of knives, some small, some curved, some sharp, some blunt. Glimmer has all her arrows and everything, but I know if we find someone it's going to be Clove, Marvel or me who kills them. Not her!

Clove grins at me, and Marvel grips his spear. I take one look down at my deadly sword, and think to myself,

Let the 74th Hunger Games begin.


	25. Chapter 25

"Here we go," snarls Glimmer.

We set off into the forest, wondering who our first victim will be. Peeta and Ian trail behind us, keeping silent but glancing at each other every now and again. Glimmer grins up at me, and I smile at her, just hoping that Clove won't see. Marvel has his spear pretty much lifted for the whole journey, and Glimmer has her bow loaded. It's like they expect to be attacked at any moment, but who would be stupid enough to attack the careers?

"Look! Over there!" Marvel points to a cloud of smoke floating up into the sky. Seriously? Did someone really light a fire on the first night in the arena? Wow, we've got some idiots this year! We all follow the smoke until we can see a girl, warming her hands over the fire. Glimmer tries to lunge forward at her, but I stick out an arm in front of her to stop her.  
>"No," I whisper to her. "Give it a second, so we can scare her."<br>She doesn't object, so we wait a bit before finnally coming out into the clear. The girl jumps when she sees us, and she automatically knows its over for her. Glimmer hands me my sword, and I twirl it a little in my hand just to scare her.

"Well, it's all your fault," I say with a grin. "Lighting a fire out here. What were you thinking?"

"It's freezing out here Cato," she stutters. "I would have died if I didn't"

I grin even wider. "Well, you're going to die anyway."

Ian and Peeta step back a little, and turn away.

"What's the matter with you two?" Clove frowns as they try to escape.

"Nothing, I just didn't really want to-"

Glimmer interupts Peeta. "You two are such babies! If you're going to be on the career team, you're going to have to learn to kill. Ian, you know we don't even need you anymore, so we could easily kill you now. And Lover-boy, don't forget why we asked you to be on the team in the first place."

I walk up and stand next to Glimmer, grinning at the two wimps standing in front of me.  
>"Why don't YOU kill her, Ian? Hmm? To prove you're tough enough to stay on the team. Because if you don't, I'll just kill you myself."<p>

Ian starts stuttering, and turns to Peeta for advice, who only shrugs.  
>"But, I don't have a weapon."<br>"Well, we can solve that," I say, holding out my precious sword to him. I kind of wanted to do it myself, and to be the first one to use the sword, but I need Ian to prove he's worthy of living. And what better way to do that than letting him have the first proper kill of the games? (No one really counts anyone who died in the blood bath as a proper kill.)

Ian has a quick war with himself, but eventually decides to take the sword and point it at the girl. Marvel lets out a snigger, because Ian looks so pathetic and hopeless. The sword is practically as big as he is, and it weighs down his arms so much that he can barely lift it up. I almost feel sorry for him.

Ian's face burns red. "Cato, I can't do it. I just can't"

"You better," Marvel growls at him.

"Is she from your District?" I ask him.

"No."

"Is she your friend?"

"No."

"Have you ever even met her before?" Glimmer chimes in.

Ian shakes his head shamefully and looks at the floor.

Glimmer glares at him and spits out "What's stopping you then?"

Ian stutters again, and I sigh and grab the sword from him before plunging it into the girls heart.

"If you keep this up, I swear on my life I will kill you. We are doing YOU a favour by keeping you alive, so you better man up." I push past everyone so we can carry on with the nights hunt.

Glimmer calls after me as I stomp off.

"But Cato, the cannon hasn't gone off yet! She's still alive!"

"I don't care Glimmer," I huff as everyone starts to follow me. We continue through the forest for a while, and Ian puts as much distance between me and him as he can. I don't blame him. After a while, the cannon still hasn't gone off, so we send Peeta back with the sword to finish her off. So basically, I've had to share my sword with everyone before I've even got to use it myself.

Glimmer grabs onto my arm and gives me a sexy smile.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just kill Peeta now, and get it over with?"

I grin back. "Only if you don't want to find Katniss."

She giggles, just as Peeta returns from the forest with a bloody sword.

"She was nearly dead," he says. "She just needed a little help."

"Are you sure?" A cannon confirms it. "Great. Lets move on then."

We decide that we want to try and find Katniss next. Glimmer suggests that we leave the 'best till last,' but I don't think I can go much longer knowing that she's still alive. I know I told Clove she could kill Katniss, but hopefully she'll forget about it and just let me have her. Peeta actually manages to find a trap, and he's convinced it was set up by the infamous Katniss.

"If you say so," Marvel says with a shrug. "We'll go that-a-way then."

We follow Peeta through the woods, but only because he says that Katniss went this way. I can't see how he could possibly tell which way she went from just a snare, but if I'm totally honest I think he's just trying to prove himself useful so he isn't killed. After a few hours of searching, Peeta decides that she must be hidden up in a tree somewhere. We're all exhausted, and the last thing I need is to search every tree in the entire forest. So, we decide to call it a night and head back to the lake where we've got all our supplies piled up.

That night, Glimmer falls asleep on my arm, which has definitely had enough of her clingy behaviour lately. Peeta doesn't look like he's even trying to go to sleep- he's just laying, looking at the stars. Out of the corner of my eye I see Clove, sleeping on her own. I can't bear to see her looking so lonely, so I whisper her name to call her. She looks up, and I wave at her to say 'come here.'

Clove very quietly creeps up to me and whispers "Hey Cato."

I smile at her, but it doesn't seem very sincere because I've got Glimmer snuggled up next to me.

"Hi Clove." I groan a little as I try to pull my arm free from Glimmer, but her grip is far too tight. I don't stand a chance of getting free without waking her up.

"Maybe you should just tell her you just don't like her," Clove suggests with a sympathetic smile.

"Trust me, all I want to do is kill her," I sigh. "But I don't know how well Marvel would take it."

"I don't think he would really care very much," Clove giggles.

I add with a snigger, "I don't really think he cares about anything."

And suddenly, we're both laughing like we will never laugh again. Technically, we should be worried that someone will hear us, and the whole 'hide our relationship' mission will be blown. But we don't care. I don't think anyone, not even Glimmer, hears us. Except Peeta of course. He sees me laughing with Clove, and trying to shake Glimmer off. It doesn't take a second for him to put the pieces together. Peeta gives a sigh and turn away. I actually feel pretty sorry for him, because I kind of think he does have a thing for Fire Girl, and now he's leading people to kill her. Well he was the one who agreed to join us, and he knew what he was going to have to do. It's not my fault!

Clove smiles at me quickly. I can't really give her a hug because one of my arms is occupied, and because Glimmers already at my side it would be way too awkward. So we have to make do with a quick "good night," and a "see you in the morning." Clove then tiptoes away to go to sleep, so Glimmer won't suspect anything tommorow. I roll over and go to sleep, STILL with an annoying blonde at my side.


	26. Chapter 26

As Glimmer clings onto my arm, blabbering about our last kill, I turn my head to find Clove shooting me a slightly annoyed look. I mouth the word 'help', and Clove actually feels sorry for me. So, she decides to try and cheer me up by doing her best Glimmer immpression. Clove flips her hair, trying to replicate the way Glimmer tosses about her bouncy blonde curls. I can't help but laugh, because she cannot do it at all like Glimmer. She gives a pathetic flutter of her eyelashes and turns around with a jerk of her hip. I practically collapse laughing as she saunters off. Glimmer jumps back as her eyes suddenly grow horribly wide. A look of fear crosses her face as my laugh echoes out through the forest. Glimmer gives a faint laugh as she tries to join in, but eventually it just gets too awkward and she stomps off with a huff. Marvel steps up to me and puts his lips to my ear.  
>"So... You like Glim, huh?"<br>I consider for a moment what to say. No? Yes? Maybe? I simply shrug my shoulders and cross my arms indifferently. Marvel just jerks his head and says "No. You don't like her. I've seen the way you look at her." He rolls his eyes. "She's revolting isn't she?" I slowly nod my head, worried that he's going to ask the question I've been dreading.  
>"Yeah, I feel you man. She's my... Well she's actually my niece." My mouth drops open in shock. "Seriously though. My parents had my older sister Dazzle when they were only 20. Dazzle went on to also have a baby when she was 20; twins actually. They were Kesdar and Glimmer. When my parents were 42, I came. Therefore, Glimmer is my niece. My parents both died last year, and Dazzle and her husband are dead too. The funny thing is, one week before the reaping, Glimmer came home with a knife and shouted "I'm going to volunteer next week, and now I don't need any of you!" And so, she killed her parents, and her twin brother Kesdar ran away. When my parents found out about their daughters death, they killed themselves, leaving me a note, saying I have to volunteer and make sure that Glimmer wins."<br>"Are you going to even do that?" I ask.  
>Marvel laughs. "No way! I don't want her to win, and I don't really want to win either. I want you and your girl to win."<br>My girl? He doesn't mean Clove, does he? I raise my eyebrows at him, and he laughs.

"Marvel, how do you know...?"

Marvel gives me a knowing smile. "Cato, its kinda obvious. Anyone could see you don't like Glimmer. Well, anyone _except _Glimmer. And I've seen how you look at Clove. How you look at the diamond on her finger."

My cheeks burn red. "You know about that too?"

Marvel winks at me and nods, just as Glimmer comes back to join us.

"Guys, I'm bored!" she whines. "I want to go hunting! I mean, we can't just hang about here all day, sitting about. I mean this is the Hunger Games after all. The Capitol will be getting bored!"

Clove walks over. "I hate to admit it, but Glimmer is right." Clove earns herself a glare from Glimmer.

Marvel shrugs at us. "Well, do you guys want to go hunting?"

Glimmer nods and smiles, and Clove and I agree. Peeta can come with us, but there is absolutely no way Ian is coming with us on the hunt. I'll probably end up killing him if he does.

So, we go into the forest, because most people hide out there. We can't actually find anything, like smoke from a fire or footsteps. Well, if I'm totally honest, some areas are just surrounded in smoke because of the huge forest fire that happened just an hour ago. At one point, when the rest of the group has stopped to for a while to decide where to go next, Glimmer grabs my arm and pulls me behind the trees. Clove sees me suddenly dissapear, and Glimmers blonde hair swishes behind the tree, something Clove definitely sees, so she obviously knows whats going on.

_Oh great._

Glimmer smiles up at me and starts twirling her blonde hair in her fingers flirtatiously. I immediatly notice how each of her fingers is coated in pink nail polish, and then topped off with a little peacock feather. It was obviously meant for the tribute parade, and then she wanted to keep it. I wonder if Marvel had to wear it too? I cant help snickering at the image of Marvel with glossy pink nails.

Of course, Glimmer tries to join in too. She tosses her hair and laughs, even though she has absaloutely no idea what she's laughing about. Argh, I just want to slap her!

Keep your cool Cato, you have to like this girl.

If thats even possible!

Glimmer stops laughing and grins at me. "So Cato, are you enjoying the games?"

"I guess so. Just wishing for a little more action at night." Oh my God, what did I just say? "In the hunts," I quickly add to make sure Glimmer doesn't misunderstand. I don't think I can take much more than her sleeping next to me at night.

Glimmer laughs in a hushed voice. "Oh Cato, I'm sure thats what you meant."

Um, yes it was!

Glimmer smiles again. "But maybe, we could create a little action here in the day?"

Before I know it, Glimmer is kissing me full on. And I hate it. It's not like Cloves loving, warm and friendly kisses. Its way way WAY too passionate for what is supposed to be a first kiss. Did she forget that? Eugh, I just wish she'd stop. If I'm totally honest, she's a pretty awful kisser. I can't even bring myself to enjoy it. I mean, I guess you could say I liked it when I kissed Denise the day in the stadium, but Denise wasn't a bad kisser. Just maybe not one of the best.

What causes us to (finally) break away is Marvel, telling us that we have to move on. Glimmer glares at him, and kicks him a little as she saunters past. But I hope he catches my 'thanks for saving me.'

We continue through the forest, and eventually come out into a small clearing, with a little pond. I ignore Clove's 'what happened' stares, and she eventually gives up. At one point I notice Peeta staring at me, and I see the confused, lost-in-thought look on his face. When he notices me looking, he looks over to Clove, then to Glimmer, before raising his eyebrows at me. I'll admit, I'm not the brightest boy who ever lived, (it's talent, strength and good looks that helps you in The Games. According to Clove, I've got all three!) so it takes me while to work out what he means. Then I realise he's plainly asking 'Clove or Glimmer?'

I grin at him, and jerk my head over to Clove without hesitation, and I get a smile from him saying 'I thought so.' How does everyone know that I don't like Glimmer, and I'm in love with Clove from just the way I look at the two? Am I just that obvious?

All of a sudden, Glimmer shouts out and points to something in the water. What the- It's Katniss! Everyone laughs as she notices us and starts scurrying out of the water. Glimmer, of course, wants to lead the group, and she's in front of everyone, dashing after Katniss. Katniss seems to be desprately find somewhere to hide. But she's not going to escape us.

"Because Fire doesn't always win!" I think out loud. Clove gives me a little fist bump as we run after Katniss who's now- CLIMBING UP A TREE? Oh great. Well I guess it would have been to easy anyway. When we reach the foot of the tree, Glimmer starts laughing at her.

"Yeah we got her now!"  
>"Katniss, you are going down!"<br>"We are gonna get you Fire Girl!"  
>"Where do YOU think you're going, Everdeen?"<p>

I glance over to Clove, who sighs and nods, telling me I get Katniss. Yes!

I start climbing up the tree, which is a lot tougher than it looks. How does Fire Girl do it like it's nothing? She's already halfway up the whole tree! Immpressive. Maybe she would have been more help than wimpy Ian, who's probably still snivelling back at the lake.

After a while, my hands start to hurt like crazy, but the encouraging shouts from Glimmer and Clove keep me going. But at a point, I notice how there aren't any more branches to grab onto, so I have to think creatively. I stick the sword into the tree, and I think I may have done it a little too high. Just as I'm reaching up to grab it, I manage to get a light grip on it, but the branch underneath my feet snaps, and both me and my sword go plummeting to the floor. Glimmer, clearly annoyed, huffs down at me as I frown up at Katniss from the floor. She points her bow at Katniss, but she misses because of her horrible aim. I force myself up, and snatch the bow from Glimmer. It's pretty hard, because I've never actually used a bow before. But I do even worse than her when I shoot.

Katniss is panting at the top of the tree, and I notice how she's staring at Loverboy, who's avoiding eye contact.  
>"Clove, can you throw a knife up there?" I ask.<br>She shakes her head. "Cato, she's too high. I can't throw my knives that high vertically. Besides, she's protected by the leaves."

Marvel sighs and shakes his head a little, and our trusty companion Peeta steps in.

"Maybe we could wait her out," he says with a shrug. "I mean, if she stays, she'll just have to starve up there. She'll come down at some point."

Wait her out? Careers don't 'wait people out.' We catch them, we kill them on the spot. But we don't really have a choice, because she's stuck up in a tree, while we can't even reach her.

I look over to Glimmer, who gives a nod. "Okay," I tell him. "We'll get her hopefully in the morning." I shove the bow into Glimmers arms, and go to sit down, while Marvel starts working on a fire. Glimmer goes to talk to him, and Clove sits down next to me.  
>"You okay Cato?" she asks.<br>"Well, I'm annoyed, but I'm fine. I mean, we find Katniss, and then we can't actually kill her."  
>Clove smiles at me. "Do we have to keep Loverboy? I mean, we can find Katniss on our own. What help has he been so far?"<br>"Well for starters," I say. "He's good with fires, and pretty good with a knife; I think he makes a pretty good Career. I don't know, I just like him because he is intimadated by us, but he doesn't really show it. And Clove, I don't think I could ever kill him."  
>She raises her eyebrows at me. "Why?"<br>I sigh, and whisper, "Because he's too much like me."  
>"But Cato, you're lethal. He's not. You're brave. He's not. You're tough. He's not."<br>"Yeah, but in the end we both just want to protect the one we love."

Silence.

"You believe all that about the starcrossed lovers?" Clove asks in shock.  
>"Yes and no. I mean, I think he actually loves her, but not the way he said he did."<br>Clove rolls her eyes at me. "Cato, he doesn't love Fire Girl. It's all for the sponsers!"  
>I raise my voice, but I'm still whispering. "Well then why didn't we use... us for the sponsers?"<br>"Because our love is real, so it will distract us and not only make us look weak, but act weak as well. Anyway, we are known as the tough careers. They can create their own reputation, but we have to live up to ours."  
>"I guess," I say with a sigh. "But you know, once Glimmer is dead I'm not hiding our relationship anymore. Its getting on my nerves."<br>Clove thinks for a moment. "Fine. But for now, we still can't tell anyone. I guess the Capitol has heard our conversation, so they must know anyway. But after we've killed Glimmer, theres no one we need to hide it from." Clove smiles at me, knowing she can't do anything more, and goes to help Marvel.

Later that night, we have a roaring fire (with the help of Peeta of course,) and no dinner. Katniss hasn't come down from the tree, and I'm worried that she's going to make a run for it while we're sleeping. But I guess, we will kill her eventually, because there is no way she can kill us. Glimmer is sitting opposite me, and Clove is practicing her knife throwing by marking out a target on a nearby tree, and then throwing a knife at it. She succeeds every time. I gently poke my sword into the fire, which causes the blade to glow red, bringing a new beauty to the sword. I take it out of the fire, and it won't seem to stop glowing, so I spit on it a little, and the fire dies out.  
>Glimmer shakes her head and smiles. "Boys," she sighs with a laugh.<br>I raise my eyebrows and smile back. "Do you even know much about them?"  
>Glimmer shrugs. "I know enough."<br>Clove turns a little to see Glimmer grinning at me, and sitting so close she's almost sitting on my leg. Actually, she _is_ sitting on my leg.

When we've confirmed Katniss has gone to sleep, and she won't sneak away, we decide to call it a night and sleep. Clove chats to Marvel for a few minutes, before settling down. I notice how Peeta, once again, has isolated himself from us so he can sleep behind a tree, all on his own. And Glimmer has to be her usual clingy self again, and decides to sleep with me.

When I wake up the next morning, Clove is leaning over me, her dark hair hanging down in my face.

"Morning beautiful," I sleepily mumble as I rub my eyes.

"Good morning Cato!"

I frown and open one eye. That didn't sound like Clove at all.

Oh no, it's not Clove. The girl leaning over me is Glimmer, in all her idiotic pathetic annoying blonde-ness. My eyes were fuzzy, and I mistook her hair to be dark.

I lean forward a little to get a good view of the tree. "Is Fire Girl still up there?"

Glimmer nods. "I checked this morning. She's still asleep, actually. By the way, do we have to wait until Katniss actually feels the need to come down?"

"No way," I laugh. "We're just staying here to make sure she doesn't escape, until we think of a way to get her down."

"Can we chop the tree down?"

...

Please God tell me she's joking, and she's only pretending to be an idiot. I raise an eyebrow at her, but Glimmer just keeps staring at me with a confused expression. Nope, she wasn't kidding. Glimmer just really is that stupid.

"Uh, I don't think so Glimmer," I sigh.

Glimmer nods at me, and smirks as she starts to play with my hair. All of a sudden, I freeze as Cloves words pop Into my head.

_"You're dead. And why? All because you were too easily distracted by a pretty girl."_

My whole body goes rigid, and my eyes dart around as I try to see where Glimmer's bow is. It's far away, but my sword is just about in her reach. I grab hold of it and grip it tightly, and Glimmer notices. It makes her give a little squeak.

"Cato, what are you doing?" Glimmer gasps.

"Nothing," I quickly say. "Just, uh, making sure my sword is nearby, if anyone attacks us. Yeah."

Her eyes have grown wide in shock, and I really think I've scared her. Glimmer smiles shakily at me, and rolls over to go back to sleep, keeping a safe distance. She's obviously now terrified I'm about to kill her or something.

_Well trust me Glimmer, that time is yet to come._

After I've fallen asleep again, my earlier dreams transform into nightmares. In one of them, I've finally killed Glimmer, but Marvel steps in and throws his spear at me. I'm falling to the ground, and Clove rushes over to help. She kneels down beside me, but Marvel gets her too. The last thing I see is her screaming my name.

And then snap, I'm back into reality, and Clove IS leaning over me, yelling. I examine her quickly with my eyes, but she doesn't seem hurt. Is it just me, or is my vision really fuzzy? I mean, it looks like the air is filled with brown dots... OH MY GOD, THEY'RE TRACKER JACKERS! I quickly look around to find that a nest of them has been dropped, presumably by our friend Katniss. Clove grabs my hand and pulls me up, and we start to make a run for it. It looks like Marvel and Peeta are just about ahead of us. But where's Glimmer? I turn round quickly, to find she's screaming as the Tracker Jackers surround her.

"CATO! Cato, help! Help, please, Cato, please. PLEASE! Save me!"

Clove sees that I've stopped, and she tries to call me, but I wave her off to tell her to keep running. Clove stutters a bit, but then starts rushing after Marvel and Peeta, trying to get back to the lake.

"Go save yourself Glimmer! You're an arrogant, pathetic, attention-seeking bitch, and I never loved you!"

And with that, her shrieks become even more piercing and high pitched, but I can't stick around. As I'm running after the other careers, the cannon booms and I can confirm that Glimmer is dead.

I'm running faster than I am supposed to be, and I think I have finally outrun the Tracker Jackers. Okay, I need to get back to the lake now- wait what is that? My vision blurry but I can make out Katniss and Peeta. It looks like Peeta's done his job-now I can kill her! But as I get closer, I notice that Peeta is shooing Katniss away, and she's already made a run for it. So... Peeta betrayed us! And to think I trusted him!

"PEETA!" I yell as I pelt over to him. He sees me, jumps in shock, and collapses to the ground.

"You betrayed us Peeta," I growl.

"N-no Cato, you don't understand-"

"I UNDERSTAND PEREFCTLY! ALL THIS TIME, ALL YOU WANTED TO DO WAS TO PROTECT HER!" I can feel myself shaking both in anger, and from the venom of the Tracker Jackers. Peeta starts to talk, but I've already sliced my sword against his leg. Peeta yells in agony, but I shake my head at him. "Shut up Peeta. You were the one who lied to us, so why should we give you the privelage of even living?"

Peeta is half listening, half weeping and clutching his now bloody leg. I can't stay a lot longer, so I turn round and start to run, leaving Peeta to hopefully bleed to death.

_Oh God, please just let me get back to everyone in time._

I reach the lake, but the hallucinations have already begun. I'm losing my vision, and I can't see anyone. Or anything. All I remember is eventually blacking out and collapsing onto the floor.

**A/N- Hi everyone, this is the first authors note I've done. Sorry this chapter took a while to get up, but I was suffering writers block. YES! Glimmer finally died! I hope you guys are all happy too. Well, the next chapter is going to be short, but I will get it up and out of the way soon. Love you all, bye guys! If anyone is wondering, the Fanfic should be done by the end of Feburary.**

**Tabitha x**


	27. Chapter 27

"Cato. Cato. Cato!"

My eyes snap open, and Marvel is leaning over me and shaking me.

"What- Marvel? What's going on, what happened?" I mumble.

Marvel gives a sigh of relief and sits back. "Tracker Jackers. Fire Girl dropped a whole nest of them on us."

Ah yes, the Tracker Jackers. I remember now.

"Oh God... Well, is everyone here?" I ask.

Marvel shrugs. "Not all of us. Glimmer and Peeta didn't make it back. I think Glimmer died from all the venom, but as for Peeta- well I have no idea what happened."

"It was me," I sigh. "He was helping Katniss all along. I mean, he found her, and then got her to run away before I could get to them. So... I cut him. On his leg. If you ask me, he should've bled to death by now. Well, I hope so."

Has he? I obviously haven't been watching 'The Fallen' at night, so I don't even know.

"Well, sorry to burst you're bubble Cato but Peeta AND Katniss are still alive," Marvel says apolagetically.

Oh fabulous! After all that we put ourselves through, those two are still alive. Yay...

"Marvel, how long was I out for? I mean, you guys managed to escape the Tracker Jackers, but I stayed behind for a minute because Glimmer was calling for me. So, I would've probably been out for a while."

Marvel huffs. "Oh, a couple days maybe?"

Okay, so at least I wan't unconcious until the last day or something stupid like that. But wait! "What about Clove?" I ask in a sudden panic.

Marvel looks at the ground. "Uh, well when we were running back here, I guess my body wasn't taking much damage from the Tracker Jackers, because I guess I'm a lot bigger than most boys. But take tiny little Clove for instance, and as you can imagine the venom didn't take very long to travel round her whole body. As we were running, Clove was starting to get slower, and then just fell to the floor. I knew I had to save her, for you Cato. So I scooped her up, and I carried her back here. When we reached Ian, he sort of had a mini panic-attack. I passed Clove to him from my arms, really quickly explained what had happened, and then told him to take care of Clove and not worry about me. Thats all I remember. But I as only out for a few hours, and when I woke up, Clove hadn't. Ian said he'd tried everything but she just wasn't opening her eyes."

"Is she still unconcious?"

"Yeah," he says with a nod. "You can try Cato, but I'm not sure if she's going to wake up at all."

"Don't say that," I growl at him. Marvel retreats, and then points over to where Clove is lying. I immediatly rush over to her and hold her in my arms.

"Clove?" I whisper. "Clove, it's Cato. Please wake up, please. We need you on the team. Glimmer's gone now, and so is Peeta so you have nothing to worry about. Just please open you're eyes and wake up!"

Her eyelashes move ever so slightly, and flutter as her emerald green eyes open.

"Huh?" Clove says as she tries to sit up, and groans as she places a hand on her head. "Cato?"

Tears fill my eyes as Clove frowns at me in confusion.

"Oh my God... you're okay! You're okay!" I hug her close to me, and she sighs and pushes me away.

"Yes, I'm fine Mr. Overprotective. Geez Cato, sometimes you can get so worked up over nothing!"

I raise my eyebrows at her, but I'm still smiling. "Well then, let's see YOU'RE reaction when you're not sure if I'm going to live or die."

Clove thinks for a moment, opens her mouth to say something, but then huffs at me and punches my arm playfully.

Marvel coughs and steps in. "Well, I'm sorry to ruin this awfully romantic moment, but did you guys think that maybe everyone is still really weak from the whole Tracker Jacker incident, and we should go hunt them down?"

Clove and I look at each other, to Marvel, and then back to each other. At exactly the same time, we burst out laughing.

"No way," I laugh. "For the rest of the day, I don't want to do ANYTHING. We can start hunting again tommorow. Besides, it will give us a chance to get a little stronger ourselves."

Marvel smiles and shrugs. "Suit yourself then," he says as Ian comes rushing over.

"Oh my goodness! You're okay!" Ian starts laughing with joy. Why on Earth is HE so happy to see we're alive? "Miss. Sevina, I really tried to keep you alive, and it looks like it worked, Miss. Sevina!"

Clove takes my hand and smiles up at me. Then she says something to him that makes me the proudest boy in the whole of Panem.

"You know what Ian? I think you can call me Mrs. Hadley."


	28. Chapter 28

Something in Ian's mind clicks.

"So you guys are like... married?" Ian asks in shock.

"Engaged," Clove corrects him.

Ian looks at us, and gives us a sad smile. We didn't even have to tell him that we probabaly won't ever actually be married, but he knows.

We don't actually do an awful lot for the remainder of the day, which isn't actually very long. Marvel tells me about life in District 1, because I asked him how many academies they have out there. I was right- they actually do have 15 of them. They use the 'Skill Level' system too, and Marvel has mastered the spear. I know people say he's not very smart, but judging by my experiences with him so far I would say he is to some extent. Ian says his Dad actually works in the Capitol; he provides them with some of their strongest explosives. You know, I was thinking that he maybe knew a little too much for just a boy who grew up in Distrit 3.

That night, I FINALLY get to sleep with Clove again after what feels like countless nights of sleeping with Glimmer (even though it was only two.)

"Cato, are Katniss and Peeta still alive?" Clove asks. Her head is resting on my chest while I fiddle with her long dark hair.

"Unfortunately, yes," I sigh. "Katniss got away because Peeta helped her. But then I cut Peeta's leg, and he still hasn't died."

"Maybe he won't at all," she whispers. "Maybe it healed."

"No way. I know where I cut him. He should be dead by now."

Clove nudges my arm. "Well I think we're about to find out."

I look up at the sky as the words 'The Fallen' appear in the sky. Okay, here goes.

...

Nothing! Absaloutely nothing! Katniss and Peeta are still alive! The only one who died was the boy from 5, and I don't even give a damn about that!

"Well that was dissapointing," Clove sighs.

"Wasn't it just," I add with an annoyed look.

"I just can't wait to kill them." Clove lays back down, and gives an evil smirk.

"We will soon. I promise you, Clove." I kiss her on the forehead, and pull her close to me as I lay down too. "Goodnight Clove."

"Goodnight Cato," she whispers back as we fall asleep.


	29. Chapter 29

We wake up the next morning to Ian calling us. He made a fire, and toasted bread for breakfast. I think he's still trying to make up for the first night of the Games, when he wouldn't kill the girl. But if I'm honest, if he helped to save Clove then he's alright in my book.

After a quick breakfast, we try to decide how we are going to hunt today, with just the four of us. Presumably, Ian would stay at the lake anyway, leaving only _three_ of us to hunt.

"Look!" Marvel suddenly shouts, pointing to the sky. We all stare at the tops of the trees, and see smoke rising from the middle of the forest.

"Well that got us off to an easy start," Clove laughs, nudging my arm.

I address my whole team. "Okay guys, I really think we need to split up. Marvel, you can hunt for Katniss, and Clove and I will find the fire-starter. Ian, you stay guard until we get back." I toss him a spear, and he startles a bit before catching it in his hands. Okay, so he's a coward, sissy, and a real push-over, but he's loyal. He may not be able to kill someone like Peeta was, but he wouldn't DARE betray us, in fear of being killed. I think I've made that clear enough in the past few days.  
>"You can use the spear, and if there are ANY intruders, I want them dead. This is you're chance to prove you're not the wimp I thought you were. You protect the supplies no matter what, even if the cost is your life. Got it?"<br>Ian nods frantically, and goes to take his position by the supplies.

"Come on guys," I call as I'm running into the forest, gesturing for them to follow. When we're in the forest, Marvel turns right, and Clove and I go straight ahead to get to the fire. When we reach the source of the smoke, we find a pile of green branches and leaves, a small fire, smoke pouring out of it, but no people.

"What now?" Clove asks, hands on hips.

"They probably left a while ago, wanting to get out of here before we noticed any smoke. A classic move, really. They've moved on." I sigh, but something catches my eye. More smoke, coming from deeper into the forest. Clove notices it too, and shakes her head.

"Cato-"

It's too late. I'm already running towards the trail of smoke in the sky, and Clove is running after me, calling my name. When I get to the second fire, I see exactly the same thing. A pile of leaves, and no fire starters.

"Cato, I was trying to tell you it's a trick," Clove emerges from the trees, as she's obviously been following me, but I am a faster runner than her. She's panting, exhausted from running.

"Yeah but- why? Maybe it wasn't meant for us?"

She rolls her eyes. "Of course it was meant for us, you idiot. I'm not saying it's a _trap,_ but it might have been to distract us from something."

"Like what?" I ask, glaring at the fire. Clove shrugs, and we both decide it was all just a tribute trying to mess with us, but we don't know why. Just as we're walking away from the fire, something makes us freeze dead in our tracks.

"KATNISS! HELP!"

The voice seems to be coming from a young girl, and it's not too far away. I think it's someone from the forest, but I don't want to go search for the screamer, because I have a hunch that it's Marvel's work. This is his job, I don't want to blow it for him.

But what happens next worries me. A cannon goes off, and Clove raises her eyebrows at me.

"Who do you think that was for?" Clove asks me, and I shrug.

"Possibly Katniss, possibly an ally of Katniss. Did she have any allies?"

"Not the last time I checked," Clove sighs. "But honestly, who would team up with her?"

"Peeta," I suggest.

"Well maybe, but that was obviously a girl yelling. Oh who knows, Cato. It was probably Marvel who killed them, so we can ask him-" But Clove is interupted by another cannon. Okay, now I'm worried.

"Clove, we should go find Marvel. We have to make sure he's okay," I say, already running back to the lake. But when we get there, a worse sight is waiting for me.

Clove and I gaze in horror at the ruins of our supplies, as if they've been exploded or something.

"What the hell happened?" I growl, keeping my cool a little as I storm up to Ian.

"Cato!" Tears stream down Ian's face, and he starts to step back. "Cato, I heard a noise over there, so I went to check it out, but then I heard a bang, and all the supplies had been blown up!"

"Have all the mines gone?" I ask calmly, but almost immediatly get filled with rage. "HAVE THEY ALL GONE?"

Clove throws one or two rocks into the remains, and no mines go off. Because Ian has done his job all too well.

I chuck my weapons to the floor, and stomp up to a trembling Ian. "We left you for what, half an hour? Just a mere 30 minutes, and in that time you destroy our only means of survival!" All of a sudden, I understand why we were taught Survival Skills back at the academy. I just wish I'd payed attention on how to find food. "We trusted you, but you've practically killed us!" All of a sudden, my anger gets the best of me, and I step forward, hold Ian's neck in headlock, and with a jerk of my arms a loud snap sounds, and the cannon booms. I watch Clove jump and step back. I whip round to her, still with the angry look on my face, and I think I scare her.

"Cato," she whispers in a calming tone.

"What?" I snarl.

"Come on Cato, please calm down. You're scaring me."

"Clove, I'm not going to hurt you." I turn away from her, and stare at the burnt fragments of food and medicine.

_30 minutes... He couldn't watch over something for 30 minutes. All because he heard a noise. _

Suddenly something clicks, and I cover my hands with my face. "Oh no," I sigh.

"What is it Cato?" Clove asks.

"It _was_ a trick. Someone lit the fires, then moved on. They knew we'd see the smoke, then go chasing after them, so we would be distracted while someone went and destroyed our stuff. And we fell for it."

I watch as Clove stares into space for a minute, but then it hits her too, and she sighs.

"How stupid were we?" Clove holds her fingers to her temples, and we both stand in silence for a second, not uttering a word. All of a sudden, Claudius Templesmith's voice is booming into the arena.

"Attention tributes! There has been a slight rule change regarding the one-tribute-wins regulation. There may now be 2 victors, if both origanate from the same District. This will be the only announcement."

...

Clove stares at me.

I stare at her.

Did he just say... that if two tributes from the same District are the last two standing... they will be declared the winners?

Before I know it, I start laughing, and I lift Clove up at spin her around.

"We can go home!" I laugh giddily. "We can go home, and we can be married, and everything will be perfect!"

Clove laughs too, and I notice the glint in her eyes as the fact starts to sink in. We can keep each other, and live happy lives as victors together. We _will _get married, and there will be no more Academy, and no more worries of being reaped for the Hunger Games.

But it's not over yet. We still have tributes to kill, and we're going to hunt them down, one by one. Just me, her, and-

"Marvel!" I think out loud. "He's not come back yet. Do you think he-"

"I don't know Cato, but we can wait until tonight. Then we will see for sure."

That night, when The Fallen appears in the sky, we watch the faces that appear.

Rue, the small girl from 11.

And... Marvel.

I almost can't believe it. Theres no sign of Katniss and Peeta's face, and what with the new rule, I'm sure they would have teamed up. But Marvel, he was my friend, and he wanted Clove and I to win right from the start. He was strong, he was so much smarter than I will ever be. He never took Glimmers nonsense, and he saw things for what they really were. I... I'd always admired him.

But theres no time for snivelling now. Clove and I have work to do over the next few days. No one stands a chance with us, because if anything we are even more deadly when it's just me and her. We can do this. We can win this. But most importantly, now we can do it together.


	30. Chapter 30

The next morning, Clove and I awake to Claudius Templesmiths booming voice again.

"More good news, I presume?" I groan as I sit up. Clove shushes me, eager to listen.

"Attention tributes! There is an upcoming feast that will be held at dawn tommorow, at the cornucopia. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desparately. And we plan to be genorous hosts."

Clove raises her eyebrows at me. "What do we need desparately?" She asks.

"Food," I suggest, suddenly feeling a pang of hunger at the mention of food. We haven't eaten since the supplies were blown to bits.

"No we don't," huffs Clove. "Unlike you, I actually payed attention in Survival Skills back at the academy. I'm sure I could find us some food."

"Clove, we both know you know nothing about hunting. It's pointless pretending you do," I laugh.

"I know more than you!" Clove punches my arm.

I throw my hands up and surrender. "Okay fine. I know nothing about hunting, and you are the queen of it. All hail the mighty Clove."

We both crack up laughing, and Clove shoves me again.

"Thank you for admitting it," she giggles. "So about this feast. Are we going?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I sigh with a grin as I lean back. "Who knows what they have for us at the feast, but I guarantee that if Peeta's still alive, there will be medicine for him at there. That means Katniss will be going, and it's our chance to kill her."

"I get Katniss," Clove interupts.

"But you said I could have her," I whine.

"Cato, it was supposed to be my turn last time we found Katniss, but I let YOU have her. You didn't even kill her."

"Yeah, so I gave you the option to kill her."

"But I couldn't."

"You didn't even try!"

"That's not what matters!" She shouts. "I get Katniss this time!"

"Oh my God, fine!" I yell back. "But remember the deal! You have to give-"

"The audience a good show," she joins in. "I know, Cato!"

"Okay, so if you're going to be going after Katniss, what do I do?"

"You can be hunting Peeta," Clove says. "He'll be half-dead anyway, and he'll be all alone if Katniss is at the feast."

"Oh it's just too easy," I sigh with a grin. "Well, we better come up with a plan if we want to do this correctly."

It takes a few hours, but we eventually come up with a plan. We're both going to sit in the forest, near the cornucopia, to wait for Katniss. When she appears at the feast, Clove is going to go for her, and I'm going to start looking in the forest for Peeta. Once Clove is finished with her, and has both the items for 2 and 12, she's going to help me look for Peeta, if I haven't already found him. It's a fool proof plan, really, and both Katniss AND Peeta should be dead by the end of it.

What could possibly go wrong?

**A.N/ What a cheesy way to end this chapter! Hope you guys are still enjoying the story, please comment! It means a LOT to me! I've had this up for a few months, and I already have 2300 views! I love you all, and I just want to say sorry for any grammar errors in previous chapters, this chapter, or future chapters! I really do try, but sometimes when I'm typing I accidently hit the wrong key, or I don't hit it at all. I'm quite a fast typer, so I usually don't notice! I told you guys I should be finished by the end of Feburary, and I think I'm on track for that! I have quite a few upcoming chapters already written, so I need to just write small ones as fillers. I'm sorry this as short, but because what happens next is pretty big, I wanted to get this small bit out of the way! I promise everyone a long chapter coming up next! I'm DYING to ask you what you're favourite chapter is, but I want to wait until the end because I have some really nice chapters coming soon. By the way, I haven't done a mushy, romantic chapter in a while. Do you guys want one? There is a SUPER DUPER mushy one that I've already written, and I can't wait for everyone to read it! So basically, is there anything I can do to improve? I am only 12, so my writing isn't as good as that of a 20 year old. I'm so sorry guys! Writing has ALWAYS been my life, but I used to start stories and never finish them. Actually posting them on something, and having people read them and wanting me to update is really encouraging, and I think this will be the first story I've ever finished! I want to finish it, and I don't because writing it has been so much fun and I don't want it to end! I've started posting it on wattpad, btw guys! In case you're wondering, I don't do authors notes on every chapter because I'm not sure if you're allowed to on FanFiction, and the LAST thing I want is to have my account banned! I was planning to just do a long one on the last chapter, but I couldn't keep it in guys! I hope this A.N hasn't annoyed anyone! I love you all, promises for a long chapter next time,**

**Tabitha, ThehungergamesClatoforever**

**My wattpad name is Tabitha_HG_ClatoFan**


	31. Chapter 31

Nothing...

Where is Katniss? We've been waiting for ages!

"Cato, do you think she's coming?" Clove whispers.

"Of course she is. She just might be having trouble with Peeta," I reply.

"But maybe she's healed Peeta on her own, and doesn't need the medicine?"

"Well, if thats the case, then it won't BE medicine that's in her bag. There'll be something else she needs desparately."

Clove nods, not taking her eyes of the Cornucopia. All of a sudden, a glint of red flashes in the Cornucopia, and a girl whizzes out. She grabs her bag, and rushes off into the forest. What the- Oh, why didn't we think of that? Clove could have grabbed both backpacks and hidden in the Cornucopia until Katniss showed her face. She wouldn't have stood a chance.

But no, because Ginger had to think of it first.

Clove huffs a little, as Katniss hasn't turned up yet.  
>"Cato, I'm going to go to the Cornucopia in a minute if Katniss isn't there. If we wait any longer, the boy from 11 will turn up and take ALL the backpacks."<p>

The boy from 11, who was he again? Oh my God, he was Thresh!

A wave of panic suddenly rushes through me, and I grab Clove. "Clove, that boy from 11 is Thresh. You have to be careful, because he's really dangerous! Promise me you'll be careful!"

"Cato, I don't see what-"

"PROMISE YOU'LL BE CAREFUL!" I shout at her. She looks very taken back and shocked, but she starts nodding.

"Okay, I'll be very careful! Now can I go, Cato?"

"Just one more thing," I say with a smile. I pull her in for a kiss, which lingers for a few seconds, but Clove has to pull back quite quickly.

"Okay, I'll see you in a minute, right?" She says, holding my hand.

"And we'll be one step closer to home," I finish, before enclosing my hand around the ring on her finger.

"One step closer to home," she Clove repeats with a smile. At that moment, Katniss bursts out from the trees on the opposite side of the land, and Clove jumps to her feet. She starts running for her, just as Katniss grabs the bag marked with District 12.

Okay, now to complete my share of the job. I have to think like Peeta- where would I go if I was an oblivous boy in love, with a wounded leg? I start by checking the edge of the forest, not wanting to put too much distance between myself and the Cornucopia, just in case anything happens. I look up at all the trees to see if Fire-Girl's shoved him up there somehow. Lets admit it, it seems like something she'd do. But unfortunately, no such luck. Maybe I need to think about where it was that I found him helping Katniss, and cut him. I think it was over there... no, that area doesn't look familiar. Okay, I have no idea what I'm doing! I don't know where Peeta would be, or if he's on the other side of the forest, hunting ME. It's so confusing, and-

"CATO!"

What- was that Clove?

"Clove!" I shout back. I can hear her yelling my name from far away. Oh no, I think. Thresh must have got to her.

Before I know it, I'm pelting through the forest at full speed. It's faster than my body is supposed to go. I can feel blood rushing to my face, and I don't know if its healthy but I have to get to Clove in time. I can still hear her screaming my name by the time I get to the edge of the forest.

"CLOVE!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Her voice seems closer now, and I can just about see her in Thresh's arms. My heart drops to my stomach as I watch Thresh bring a rock down onto her skull. I make a small squeaking sound, and I start running to Thresh in my rage. But it's too late, and Thresh is running off with both his and my backpack. I know I won't get him in time, so I decide to divert my path and head for Clove. The moment I reach her side, I throw my spear to the ground and hold her hand tightly. Upon jerking my head a little, I find that Katniss is sitting and staring in shock.

"If you want to live, you better run," I growl at her. She doesn't need to be told twice; Katniss jumps up and starts rushing away.

"Cato," Clove chokes. I start fumbling about with the dent on her head with shaky hands, trying to recall all I know about head injuries.

"It's okay Clove, we can fix this." My voice is doubtful and unsteady, and Clove clutches my hand harder.

"Cato, we can't-" Clove can't finish, because I start shushing her. I saved her life once, I can do it again.

Clove looks extremely weak, but she's just hanging on. Her breathing slows down, but every breath is loud and long. I can feel tears coming because the fact that there's nothing I can do in time starts to sink in.

"Clove, you can't die, you just can't..." Tears spill over, and I don't even bother to wipe them. I'm here next to her, pleading, _begging_ her not to go and leave me alone. I see a few tears falling from her eyes, and I wipe them from her face before cradling her in my arms.

"I didn't keep my promise Clove... I'm so sorry."

She shakes her head weakly and coughs out "You kept it Cato. You never forgot me," in a raspy voice.

I shake my head up at the sky, as I pull her closer. "Why couldn't it have been me..."

Clove whispers to me. "Because you're life is so much more important than mine."

"Of course it is," I say as I'm crying. "Because you ARE my life."

She manages a weak smile, but it doesn't cheer me up as she is still crying.

"Win, Cato," is all she can get out.

"Just for you," I manage to say through constant sobs. I know she doesn't have much longer, so I hold her close and hug her. She attempts to wrap her arms around me and fails, so I help her. Out of no where, a cannon booms, and I know she's gone.

No... it was too soon! I didn't have enough time to say goodbye! Maybe it wasn't for her? I look down at her beautiful face, and her once vibrant, shiny, emerald green eyes are now a lifeless grey. I can't bear to stare into them, so I close her eyes gently with my fingers. Memories come flooding in all of a sudden, and one sticks out- how Clove can sleep through anything, and awake at just the sound of my voice.

"Clove?" I whisper weakly, hoping she will open her eyes, which will be a gorgeous green once again. Hoping that colour will flood her now pale face, showing off the cute little freckles on her flawless skin.

"Clove?"

I try to be louder, but my voice sounds like it isn't human; it's rasping and rough.

She's not waking up Cato...

She's gone.

All because of Thresh...

Thresh...

The one who took the love of my life from me. My wife-to-be. I suddenly remember her diamond ring. Should I take it, to remember her by? No. It will stay on her finger forever, as a reminder that I will always love her, although we could never really be together.

I have to go before the hovercraft arrives; that's definitely not something I want to see. I kiss Clove's forehead and whisper 'goodbye,' before walking away from her, just managing to convince myself not to look back.

Keep walking Cato.

Don't turn back.

You have to... move on now.

When I reach the lake, I notice how alone I feel. I'd give absaloutely anything to have her with me. Or Marvel. Or Ian. Or even Glimmer. Just someone, to tell me it's okay.

To tell me it's all a dream, and if I fall asleep I will wake up with my beautiful girl sleeping next to me. Without eating or anything, I lay down to sleep wondering if I will wake up to her face, or if my slumber will be haunted with nightmares.


	32. Chapter 32

_"You're safe in my arms now and forever. I'll never let you go."_

The words are a lie. I didn't get there in time to save her, and now I've lost her, all because I wasn't fast enough. Was there something I could've done? Something that would have saved her? Maybe there was, and I just didn't know it.

I really thought we could do it. That we would make it out of the arena together, and I wouldn't have to face the pain of losing her.

Boy was I wrong.

I think I know where I am. The sofa I'm sitting on, and the carpet underneath my feet seems just like the ones in our Capitol apartaments. Is Jayo here? Or someone else? I can hear footsteps, as if someone is pacing, and crying. The noise sounds like it's coming from someone in the room with me, but theres no one here.

"Hello?" I call out. "Is someone there?"

The weeping stops abruptly, and so does the footsteps.

"Cato?" A girls voice whimpers.

Who is it? The voice seems strange, yet so... familiar. I stand up, and then freeze at the voice. It's hurt, its dying, its in pain. But what worries me most is that it's calling to me.

"Cato! Cato, please!" The girl cries out. I have to go help, yet I'm far too afriad. Wait... I may not have to go to her. By the sounds of the voice, I think she's coming after me.

She draws closer, and she seems to be calming down the nearer she gets. Finally, when I feel like she's right behind me, I whip around, and my heart skips a beat when I see Clove behind me, in that shirt I let her wear the night she stayed at mine. All thoughts and cautions that Clove is dead, and shouldn't be here with me flood right out of my brain, and I am left far too giddy.

"Clove!" I squeak in shock. "I'm so sorry Clove, it wasn't my fault..."

Clove looks down at the floor, and keeps her expression emotion-less. "It was your fault Cato. You could've saved me, but you were so selfish that you chose not to."

"No, Clove I never meant for you to die. I thought we were going to win together..." Stinging tears roll down my cheeks, but Clove doesn't even blink. She only stares at the floor.

"You wanted me dead right from the start. You never loved me, I was just there as an ornament. Then Glimmer came along, and I wasn't needed anymore. You had her to be the pretty girl who trails along beside you, making you look good.

I shake my head sadly at her. "No, I didn't love Glimmer, I only loved you. I never went back to save Glimmer, bùI did for you. Well, I tried."

"You could've done if you wanted to. However, you wanted me dead, and out of your life so you could go back home, and have to crown all for yourself. You wanted me DEAD! YOU WANTED ME DEAD!" Clove's voice has risen to an angry cry, and tears are pouring out of her eyes too, just like me. But theres something strange about the tears. They seem to be steaming, and... almost burning away at her face. It starts off with the salty tears leaving only red, blistered streaks on her face, but then it starts to burn through her skin. Oozing flesh runs down from her eyes, and charred flesh falls away from her face revealing white, scarred bones. Only one thought runs through my head-

This is not the girl I miss.

"You're not Clove!" I scream at her. "Clove knows it wasn't my fault. She still loves me!"

A piercing scream escapes Cloves mouth. But it's not her voice. It sounds unearthly, far too high pitched for what I know it to be.

Her face has almost melted away entirely, and I'm not afraid anymore. I have to go get out of here, beofre anything else happens. Ignoring the wailing girl at my feet, I start running from the room. However, I don't seem to be moving. 'Clove' has grabbed my ankle, and she has a pretty tight grip on it.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" She shrieks.

"Let go!" I desperately try to shake her off, but her grip is far too strong. Her hands feel like fire on my ankles, and I'm pretty sure she's burnt the mark of her hand on them.

Clove makes a hissing sound, almost the equivalent to that of a snakes. I don't know what to do; I have to escape her. Just as I give one final yank from her icy yet burning hands, light pours into my eyeballs, and I awake in the arena once again. Panting, I feel my eyes get cloudy, and before I know it I'm already into a fit of crying and weeping. From tilting my head upwards, I find that Clove is no where to be seen, and I'm forced to see her death as a reality. It's useless trying to calm myself down, because I'm choking, bitter tears running down my face. Maybe if I had someone else here with me to help, it might be possible, but for now I'm just going to have to keep sobbing the pain away.

"I miss you," I choke out through stinging tears. "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you. I don't know how many times I'm going to say this, but I know I can never show it enough."

I don't care who sees me. A raving lunatic, once seen as a warrior, now looked upon as a weak boy who crys for and speaks to his dead lover.

His almost lover.

Sponsers are surely holding back their money and gifts now that they've seen the real me. But I don't care. These stupid games aren't important to me, it's not essential that I win.

Oh... it is. Memories flood my brain- the scene of her death rewinds in my head.

_"Win, Cato."_

_"Just for you."_

Yes, I remember. Her dying wish was to have me win for her. Can I fulfill that? Of course I will. Whether I can face the pain of being alone or not, it's what she wanted, and it's going to happen. One way or another.

But to win, I still have people to kill. I don't even know if I can do that, what with the bedraggled mess that I am. So, who do I still have to kill anyway? Ginger from 5, our famous Star Crossed Lovers, and Thresh.

At the simple mention of his name, I immediatly feel dizzy from a sudden anger that fills me head to toe.

I remember now. He was the one who killed her with the rock. It was all because of him.

And he's going to pay.

He took her life, and now he owes a thousand more.

Any anger or jealousy I once directed to Peeta and Katniss fades away almost instantly, and I know who the real one I must kill is. Thresh should be preparing himself, because once I get hold of him he will get whats coming to him. Watch out Thresh- Cato's coming.


	33. Chapter 33

Where are you Thresh...

Stop being such a coward and come and face me!

I don't know where he is, but I will find him. Find him and kill him.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" I yell up into the sky. The Mockingjays catch my tone, and immediatly turn it into a melody thats passed around the whole forest.

Stupid birds.

It's been hours, why has he not turned up? Of course, I didn't send him a formal invitation.

TO- Thresh

You are invited to a payback session with Cato!

Please arrive promptly, and don't forget to bring a weapon.

The sun reflects off my sword, yes, the beautiful one, and bounces up into my blue eyes. The sword, used by Ian and Peeta- now dead. I almost feel bad for just going ahead and killing Ian out of anger. Didn't Thresh kill Clove out of anger too? To avenge the little girl? I know I hated the effect Cloves death had on me, so maybe I should've considered the effect it would've had on someone else. But Ian actually did something wrong though. Thresh should've realised it was Marvel who killed her, but he's dead anyway.

I've never experienced death like this before... Sure, I've lost Griffin and my Mother, but now I've had to go through Marvel's, Glimmer's, Ian's, and of course, Clove's death in the period of what, 2 weeks? I always thought I was strong, and didn't get upset about this sort of thing. I was wrong. It's the worst sort of pain I've ever experienced.

Suddenly, a twig snaps behind me. "Who's there?" I snarl.

"Three guesses who," laughs a deep voice.

"You were brave coming here today," I say the tall, muscular figure who's now come into view.

Thresh gives a cold, cruel laugh. "I'm not scared of you Cato. I know you could snap at any moment, unlike me. I have control over my emotions."

I clench my hands in two fists as I feel rage building up inside of me. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE!" I scream at him. He jumps a little and looks startled, but never the less keeps his cool and keeps grinning at me. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you love." My voice is rasping and choking; I haven't spoken since Clove died a few days ago.

"You think I don't know what it's like?" Thresh yells. "You don't think I haven't ever lost someone? How about all my brothers and sisters? How about my grandparents? How about my Dad? How about Rue? All I wanted was revenge for the little girl, that's it."

"Well now," I growl. "I want revenge on you!" Thresh lunges out at me, but I'm not letting him beat me too. I don't even have to win the games, just make sure he gets what he deserves. And that he gets it good. I grab his shoulders and force him onto his back. Thresh smashes onto the floor, and groans in sudden pain. I can tell he's desperately trying to wiggle free from my grasp, but there's no way he's getting away from me. "You okay down there little Thresh?" I sneer. "Poor Thresh. He knew he could easily overpower a 16 year old girl, but let's see how he does up against the deadly Cato." I take one of his arms and twist it round his back. I'm almost teasing him, because I know I could kill him in a flash, but I want to make his death slow and painful. I hope he regrets what he did to my Clove during every, single, second of hid undying torture. "Is that it Cato?" Thresh spits to the floor. "Is that all the great Cato is capable of?"

"Oh trust me, it gets much worse than this." I yank both of his arms, and I hear the snap. Thresh moans in agony, but he tries to control his weakening body. Very slowly, I wrap my icy fingers around his neck, and begin to tighten my grip. Thresh splutters and spits, now growing unable to breathe, as I notice him give a painful grin and clench the grass. "You're going to die Thresh. You don't have a choice now. You hurt her, so I hurt you. It's not rocket science. I might not win, but I'm going to make it my duty that you don't."

"Well then why won't you just give me a chance of winning?" Thresh is still struggling as I strangle him. I frown at him and tighten my fingers anymore.

"Why should I? You never gave me a chance at goodbye." I loosen my grip on his neck, and slowly reach to the side to grab my sword. My other arm stays firmly on his leg, so he doesn't even have a chance at running away. He doesn't notice me reaching for my sword- well, at least not until I start ripping him open with it. Thresh lets out one final scream that echoes through the silent night, and the cannon booms out. He's gone. He's suffered. But not enough. It could never, ever, EVER be enough to pay for what he did. I lost something that could never be replaced. I try to think about where to go, what to do next. If I'm going to get my revenge on 12, then that time is dawning on me. We're the only ones left, so I'm going to have to kill them. But... That's not my priority anymore. Clove is gone, she's not ever coming back. I've got my revenge on Thresh. He's definitely never coming back. Even if he could, he must know I'd make his life a living hell if he did. My life is... Complete. Ever since Clove died, I knew I'd have to get my revenge on Thresh. And I have. There is nothing else I have to do. I don't care about Peeta, Katniss, Jayo, Perrie, Magix, the Capitol, Knight... Xander, Callum, Mandy, Denise... What about them? I want to see them again, even just once. But could I survive without my Clove? Would I turn to drink, like 12's Mentor, Haymitch did? I told Clove I'd win for her, and I have to make her dying wish come true. Not for Knight, not for Xander, not for Callum, not for Mandy and Denise, or anyone. For Clove. Whether I want to or not.


	34. Chapter 34

Just one more day. One more day until I get out of this trap, filled with memories of all my friends. I might get out with my heart beating, I might get out on a hovercraft, blood no longer flowing through my dead-cold veins.

And I can join her.

Of course, I don't want to win this. Not without my Clove. I'm going to try and win, but I'm not necasarily staying alive after that. Whats the point? I'll just be going back to a drunk Father, annoying blonde girls on my case, and months of Victory tours, where you have to pretend to love anyone and they have to pretend to love you. Maybe that would be fun with her. Us, finnally getting the attention and appreciation we deserve.

But that won't happen. It can't, because she's de- she's gone. I don't like using that word, it makes me feel as though she's still in pain, but the word gone gives me the immpression that she's in a better place.

I haven't been staying at the lake recently. I've just been crashing in the forest, sleeping mostly. Anyone could just walk into the woods right now and see me on the ground. They would kill me, and I'd probably be too weak to fight back. I'm not saying I wouldn't try, it just wouldn't be physically possible.

Well actually, Katniss and Peeta are the only ones left. Maybe I should just let them kill me, so they can go home and like happily ever after as star-crossed lovers. I think they'd enjoy all the interviews much more than I would.

I feel a little drowsy- I think I should go to sleep again. I don't even care about the nightmares anymore, I just want to rest so that thoughts aren't racing around my head, as well as questions that have no answers.

What is that noise? It sounds like running, leaping, scuttling. Have they found me? Great, then lets get this over with.

But it's not Fire-girl and Lover-boy that are after me. Almost immediatly, I jump up onto my feet and begin running for my life, because it's a pack of wild, ferocious, hairy mutts that's chasing me.


	35. Chapter 35

Running...

Panting...

Trying to escape...

I don't even know how long I've been running now. An hour maybe? Longer? Anyway, that isn't even important. What IS important is that I out run them. Just about, I look back and find that what was once 5 dogs chasing me is roughly about 20. What is going on? The Capitol must know that since there are only three tributes left, someone is going to die soon enough. Maybe they sent these rabid dogs out here to draw us together? Suddenly, a new form of courage fills me, and for the first time since Cloves death I actually feel like I can do this.

When I reach the Cornucopia, I manage to climb up onto the roof, as the surface has bumps all over it, and they gave me something to grip onto as I climb. The dogs are doing a pretty rubbish job of climbing as they're all trying to scuttle up at once. Maybe if they tried it one at a time they might have some luck.

"Hey, ugly dog!" I yell down at one of them. "Your mother chases garbage trucks!"

The mutt bares his slimy, yellow teeth at me, but as he does so something catches my eye. The dog is wearing a collar, and in jewels it says '1' on the front.

You don't think... No, thats silly. Maybe this is like, dog number 1, and then they have dog number two.

But my worst fears are confirmed when a dog with a blonde coat and the same collar as the last one starts yapping up at me. Its eyes glare in hatred, and it's body is sleek and slender- just like Glimmers.

As fast as possible, I count all the dogs. Just as I thought; all 24 are here.

So does this mean- there she is! One of the smaller dogs, with '2' engraved in stone. Her emerald green eyes are almost shouting as she snarls at me.

I almost want to cry. I know it's not her, just a mere representation, but the eyes look so human like, so much like hers. Just as one tear spills over, I hear a noise behind me. Well well well, if it isn't Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is hauling Peeta up onto the Cornucopia, because it looks like his leg is still giving him trouble. Both of them freeze when they notice me grinning at them.

Theres no time to lose. I lunge forward at Katniss and pin her down, before I start clutching her neck. Her face turns purple and her lips turn blue, and just when I think she's about to take her final gasping breath, Peeta steps in and pulls me away from Katniss. While she's trying to regain her breath for a minute, I grab Peeta and hold him in headlock, just as Katniss aims a bow at me.

Theres no where to go. She can't have Peeta now, because we're both right on the edge of the Cornucopia, so if she shoots me then Peeta and I both fall down. But because Peeta can't breathe as I have his neck in my arms, she doesn't have long to shoot before Peeta dies and I turn on her.

"Go on," I say, barely heard over Peeta's strangled cries. "Shoot. Then we both go down and you win."

Katniss doesn't move, she just keeps her bow pointed at my face.

"Just shoot," I growl, getting frustrated. "You have people to get back to, and if you ever want to see them again, then shoot!"

"Why don't you want to win?!" Katniss yells at me.

I take a deep breath. "Because, I promised her together or not at all. I don't go back on promises."

Katnis stares at me, thinking I must mean Glimmer. Of course thats what she thinks- she must have seen me everyday, training with her, and then sleeping with her at night in the arena.

In the middle of the moment, Peeta dips his finger into his excsessively bleeding leg, and draws an X on my hand. He looks up at Katniss, who figures out what it means, just a second before I do. Oh no... Its too late, and Katniss has already sent an arrow flying into my hand. I have to yank it away from Peeta in pain, and then as he's now been set free, he takes the oppurtunity to knee me, and then kick me off of the Cornucopia.

I'm not that aware of what happens next, only that the mutts are ripping away at my body after . It should be horribly painful, but I think the fall half-killed me anyway, so I don't feel much. When they think they're finished with me, one of them grabs my leg in it's mouth and starts dragging me into the Cornucopia. The second I start moving, a sharp, aching, ripping pain hits me all at once, and I start shouting out in agony. The mutt shows no mercy when he pulls me in, and once I'm near the mouth he just leaves me in a bloddy, curled up mess on the floor.

_It's finally over... Now I can just die, and finish these stupid games. _

But I'm wrong. The mutts get their second wind, and come over to chomp away at my legs. I don't fight back- I left my sword back on the roof. Besides, my arms are far too mangled and mauled. Once my legs are left as only a heap of blood, flsh and bones, they move on to the rest of me. All I can do is whimper as they tear my body to pieces, and thank fate that Clove didn't have to see this. The thought cheer me up a little, but how can you be merry when your body is ripped apart?

Why am I not dead yet? Have these mutts been programmed to eat you in a way which prevents you from dying, but still leaves you suffering? I just want this tortue to end, if it ever will. I try things like holding my breath in, or even trying to break my own neck but nothing is working. I know why they won't give up and kill me just yet, because this must be the most violent part in the whole games- no one will be able to look away. Just when I'm not sure if I can take it much longer, a girl appears at the entrance of the Cornucopia wih her bow loaded, pointed at my heart.

I don't know if she'll really do it, or if it's out of revenge or pity- or maybe both. But I just want her to send the arrow flying, and end this for me.

And that's why I mouth the word 'please.'

She lets go of the bow string, and the arrow soars towards. A glint of silver hits my chest, and then I feel one strike of pain runs through me, before it's all over.


	36. Chapter 36

Where am I? The words circle round in my head in an almost endless loop, and I take in my surroundings. A small garden, with fountains and statues. It seems like something from the Capitol. I suddenly realize what I am wearing- a white suit, with a flower in it's pocket. Wait... It seems like something a boy would wear on his wedding day. His wedding day?

"Clove?" I find myself suddenly calling out. Some birds tweet, and the only noise is the gentle rushing of water from the fountains nearby. "Clove!"

"Cato?" Clove's voice comes back like an echo. She sounds like she's nearby somewhere, but I am completely alone. I suddenly spot a long, white object in the distance, and I indentify it as Clove, in a white dress.

"Clove!" I call out in joy. She lifts her dress a little, revealing a pair or satin white high heels, as she rushes over to me. Now that she's closer I can see her hair has been put into natural, soft waves, and her face has subtle makeup. Her dress is long and flowing, a row of diamonds on the top. Clove looks even more beautiful than ever, if that's even possible. She throws her arms around my neck, and I pull her closer to me. I can't help but cry a few silent tears, because I know this isn't real. Clove is dead. This can't be happening. But real or not, I want to make this moment last.

"Clove, I'm so sorry I didn't get there fast enough. I'm sorry, I'm sorry... But I got Thresh back, I promised myself I would and I did- for you."

Clove places a finger on my lips, and I'm still holding her. I don't want to let her go, because I'm afraid that if I do, I'll lose her forever.

"I'm here now Cato. It's fine. It's not your fault, please don't blame yourself. But... Where are we?" Clove looks down and notices her dress for the first time. "And why am I in a wedding dress?"

I hold her hand, and enclose my hand on her diamond ring. "I think we both know the answer to that." Clove blushes and giggles, as I keep hold of her hand.

"I, Cato Hadley,

Take you, Clove Sevina,

To be my wife,

To have and to hold from this day forward;

For better, for worse,

For richer, for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish..."

I hesitate to say the last words, because I made a guess what is happening, why we are here. And I think it's right.

"Till death do us part," I finish.

"But Cato... I think it already has." I sense pain in her eyes as the fact starts to dawn upon her.

I sigh a little. "Well Clove, I think that the last line is rubbish. Nothing can separate us. I don't care about anyone else. Not my Dad, my friends, Denise, Mandy, Knight- no one. Because as long as I'm here with you, I'm happy."

Clove suddenly starts crying, as tears begin to roll down her face. "Cato, why does it have to be like this? Why couldn't we have just been like anyone else, and got married, had children and grown old together?" I hold Clove's face in my hands, and smile at her. "Clove, I think we both knew that right from the start. From the day I said I loved you, from the day we became training partners. Heck, from the day I first saw you. We were setting ourselves up for a lot, because we knew it would be dangerous and probably wouldnt suceed. We both knew we couldn't really have a happily ever after. We both knew it would be hard to be together. We both knew that our love could never be."

Clove looks down and smiles at the floor. She thinks for a moment, before saying dreamily, with a light laugh, "I, Clove Sevina,

Take you, Cato Hadley,

To be my husband,

To have and to hold from this day forward;

For better, for worse,

For richer, for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish,

Because we are the lovers who made it,

No matter what life threw at us,

You and I from District 2,

The real star crossed lovers, but no one knew.

We stood tall, and faced it all,

I'll love you forever, even though now I see,

That our love could never be."

I grin at Clove, and she rewards me with a warm smile in return. I hold out my hand, and she takes it without hesitation. I pull her closer to me, and place a hand on her waist. I don't even know how long we spend, dancing in each others arms, but I do know I'm with my Clove, my knife princess, my love, my world, my everything, And thats all that will ever matter.


End file.
